Swiss experts call for more commitment to biodiversity at COP28
Published: Monday, Dec 11th 2023, 10:40
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According to Swiss experts, biodiversity must not be forgotten when it comes to climate protection. The loss of biodiversity is just as serious for nature and humanity as climate change, they emphasized on Monday at the World Climate Conference in Dubai.
Climate protection measures should not harm biodiversity, appealed Dirk Karger from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) at the COP28 World Climate Conference, as climate and biodiversity influence each other, as the experts in the conference's Blue Zone, where the official negotiations are taking place, emphasized.
As an example, they cited mixed forests, which reflect more sunlight and heat up less than pure coniferous forests. This is because conifers have to close their stomata earlier in hot weather to avoid losing too much water. Stomata are microscopic pores in the leaves and needles of trees that serve to regulate the exchange of gases between the plant and its environment. By closing the stomata earlier, pure conifer forests evaporate less water overall, whereby the cooling effect of evaporation is lost and they indirectly contribute to warming, as the WSL explained.
Appeal to politicians
In the "Feedbacks" research project, researchers including Krager from WSL and Tom Crowther from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) are investigating such links between biodiversity and climate. In a statement at COP28, they called on politicians to take the research findings into account.
Climate protection and the protection of biodiversity must therefore be considered together. For example, from a climate protection perspective, it may seem sensible to plant monocultures of fast-growing tree species in order to bind as much CO2 as possible. However, as monocultures are much more susceptible to windthrow or pests, there is a risk that the trees will quickly die again and release the bound CO2 back into the atmosphere, according to the WSL.
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