Strengthening natural climate protection in the Nature Infrastructure Act
The Scientific Advisory Board for Natural Climate Protection (WBNK) welcomes the emphasis on natural climate protection in the proposed Nature Infrastructure Act.
The Advisory Board's assessment is particularly positive in regard to the rewetting of peatlands, as greater consideration is to be given to it in future. At the same time, the WBNK points out that urgent improvements are needed in peatland conservation so that the proposed regulations can have the intended impact on climate policy. The rewetting of peatlands plays a central role in climate protection. Restoring water levels to near-natural levels can prevent significant greenhouse gas emissions. The WBNK therefore reiterates that, without the rewetting of peatlands, the statutory climate protection targets in the LULUCF sector cannot be achieved by 2045. Furthermore, wet peatlands benefit biodiversity, the water cycle and, in the long term, sustainable land management and soil value preservation.
Prof. Dr Matthias Drösler, Co-chair of the WBNK, strongly supports this recommendation, also from the perspective of the Peatland Science Centre (PSC) at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HSWT), which he heads.
The full statement from the Scientific Advisory Board for Natural Climate Protection is available on the WBNK website.
