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Re-green the Earth

Dr. Christoph Thies

christoph.thies@greenpeace.org

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The PA 1.5° Goal:

• Requires not only rapid emission reductions

• But most likely also additional CO2 uptake

• Many options for CO2 removal under discussion

• Most of them have major impacts on vulnerable communities, biodiversity, land, water

etc.

• Only restoration of natural ecosystems has multiple positive co-benefits

• Therefore this should be the priority for future CO2 removal action

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Role of Forests:

• Largest potential to combine additional CO2 uptake with biodiversity benefits (UNFCCC,

SDG and CBD targets) is the restoration of forests.

• Restoration requires very different measures including more protected areas, limiting

logging rates, reducing logging damage, fire prevention and control, recovering lost

forest lands (reforestation) etc.

• Restoration is costly and will not come by itself, needs to be incentivized eg through PES

• Restoration is only successful with demand side measures reducing the wasteful use of

wood and agricultural products (diet change, use cascades and waste/residue-based

bioenergy at the end of the product chain)

.orgSource: WRI

.orgSource: WRI

.orgSource: WRI

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Ecosystems restoration:

• The living vegetation biomass is down

to 450 GtC – only half of its natural

potential – drastically reducing global

photosynthesis capacity

(Erb et al., 2017).

• This indicates a large restoration

potential

Source: Erb et al., 2017

.orgSource: Erb et al., 2017

.orgSource: Griscom et al., 2017

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Lessons learned from Germany:

• Germany and the EU are looking towards

reducing their forest carbon stocks –

instead of letting them grow.

• Natural forest management in Germany,

combined with lower logging rates, reveals pot

ential for over 2 Gt of CO2 throughout

the rest of the century.

• Given that the global secondary forest cover

is over 200 times of Germany´s forest, this

indicates significant global potential

without requiring a single additional ha

of land.

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Implications of the Paris Agreement:

• Incentivize forest restoration in the Paris agreement and its NDCs.

• NDC mitigation part must pick-up ambitious CO2 uptake targets in addition to

strengthening their emission reductions.

• These new targets must be in line with CBD targets and SDGs incentivizing the

restoration of forests and other ecosystems.

• Open and honest reporting rules help to make NDCs comparable and to raise NDC

ambition.

• All parties need to take action and developing countries and their indigenous and local

communities need support.

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Thank

you!