Trade-offs and synergies between climate mitigation, biodiversity protection, food security and further sustainability goals (1/2)

Abstract der Sitzung

System transitions of unprecedented scale will be necessary to minimize climate change and to adapt to its partly already inevitable consequences. In addition to a decarbonization of all sectors, nearly all scenarios for reaching the goal of limiting climate warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees assume the removal of billions of tons CO2 per year from the atmosphere and its sequestration, often referred to as negative emissions. Large-scale bioenergy plantations of up to more than a billion hectare, with carbon capture and storage and other ecosystem-based measures, such as reforestation and enhanced weathering, have been advocated to achieve such negative emissions. The corresponding changes in land use are bound to have impacts on many other sustainability goals, but these interrelationships have not yet been sufficiently analysed or considered in applied practice. In contrast, some scholars have criticized that too much focus on climate mitigation, for example, has led to unintended negative side-effects, in particular for biodiversity. In order to avoid negative side-effects and to identify optimal policy measures, potential future development pathways have, at least, to be analysed with a multidisciplinary perspective. Transdisciplinary approaches could further foster better understanding and implementation. We invite talks that address the interrelationships outlined above and advance the scientific knowledge base for societal and political decisions. We also welcome critical reflections of dominating narratives, discussions of societal impacts, and progress in related transdisciplinary approaches. Talks that integrate classical physical and human geography approaches are particularly welcomed.