{"id":6006,"date":"2025-09-10T15:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T13:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/?p=6006"},"modified":"2026-03-04T16:44:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:44:58","slug":"forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/","title":{"rendered":"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection – Interview with Julia Pongratz"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n\t
\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t \t\t
\n\t\t\t\t \t\t\t

\u00a9<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t

\u00a9 Bernd Dittrich, Unsplash<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t \t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t \t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n\n\t
\n\n\t\t

In a recent interview with LMU, Prof. Julia Pongratz, CDRterra spokesperson and<\/span> head of the Chair of Physical Geography and Land Use Systems, highlights the crucial role of forests and land use in Germany\u2019s climate protection.<\/p>\n

While forests worldwide absorb about a quarter to a third of human CO\u2082 emissions annually, drought damage in Germany since 2018 has caused forests to shift from CO\u2082 sinks to CO\u2082 sources. As a result, Germany can no longer fully rely on forests as climate protectors. “Many people assumed that forests would remain a reliable carbon sink, but events have proved otherwise,” Pongratz explains. This development also impacts the german climate targets for 2045: the land-use sector now shows a significant gap, requiring more ambitious measures to reduce emissions across all sectors.<\/p>\n

The scientist emphasizes that, in addition to emission reductions, CO\u2082 removal is necessary to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. In addition to technical solutions, the creation and maintenance of natural CO\u2082 sinks play a crucial role. In Germany, peatlands, like forests, are central to this effort<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n\t
\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tTo the full interview on the LMU website\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CDRterra spokesperson Julia Pongratz explains in a recent LMU interview how drought damage is affecting the CO\u2082 storage capacity of German forests and which measures are now needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-6006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview-en","tag-interview-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nForests as a Key to Climate Protection - Interview with Julia Pongratz - CDRterra<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection - Interview with Julia Pongratz - CDRterra\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CDRterra spokesperson Julia Pongratz explains in a recent LMU interview how drought damage is affecting the CO\u2082 storage capacity of German forests and which measures are now needed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CDRterra\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-10T13:22:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T15:44:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1705\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Schl\u00fcter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Schl\u00fcter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Schl\u00fcter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/person\/1ab8f6c8640706585b52a925348cf349\"},\"headline\":\"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection – Interview with Julia Pongratz\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T13:22:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-04T15:44:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\"},\"wordCount\":12,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Interview\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interview\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\",\"name\":\"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection - Interview with Julia Pongratz - CDRterra\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T13:22:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-04T15:44:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1705},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection – Interview with Julia Pongratz\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/\",\"name\":\"CDRterra\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#organization\",\"name\":\"CDRterra\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cdrterra.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cdrterra.svg\",\"caption\":\"CDRterra\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/person\/1ab8f6c8640706585b52a925348cf349\",\"name\":\"Laura Schl\u00fcter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3599bd54112686168c482d09c84b6d0ca10fb6bbc237cde0050363ea5a28af13?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3599bd54112686168c482d09c84b6d0ca10fb6bbc237cde0050363ea5a28af13?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura Schl\u00fcter\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection - Interview with Julia Pongratz - CDRterra","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection - Interview with Julia Pongratz - CDRterra","og_description":"CDRterra spokesperson Julia Pongratz explains in a recent LMU interview how drought damage is affecting the CO\u2082 storage capacity of German forests and which measures are now needed.","og_url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/","og_site_name":"CDRterra","article_published_time":"2025-09-10T13:22:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-04T15:44:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1705,"url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Laura Schl\u00fcter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Schl\u00fcter","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/"},"author":{"name":"Laura Schl\u00fcter","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/person\/1ab8f6c8640706585b52a925348cf349"},"headline":"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection – Interview with Julia Pongratz","datePublished":"2025-09-10T13:22:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-04T15:44:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/"},"wordCount":12,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Interview"],"articleSection":["Interview"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/","url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/","name":"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection - Interview with Julia Pongratz - CDRterra","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-10T13:22:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-04T15:44:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/bernd-dittrich-JHIIuNDfmo0-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1705},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/news\/forests-as-a-key-to-climate-protection-interview-with-julia-pongratz\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Forests as a Key to Climate Protection – Interview with Julia Pongratz"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/","name":"CDRterra","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#organization","name":"CDRterra","url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cdrterra.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/cdrterra.svg","caption":"CDRterra"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/person\/1ab8f6c8640706585b52a925348cf349","name":"Laura Schl\u00fcter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3599bd54112686168c482d09c84b6d0ca10fb6bbc237cde0050363ea5a28af13?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3599bd54112686168c482d09c84b6d0ca10fb6bbc237cde0050363ea5a28af13?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laura Schl\u00fcter"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6006"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6026,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006\/revisions\/6026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdrterra.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}