Policy advice

• How much carbon is stored in German forests?
• Where are differences to be found?
• How did carbon stocks change in the past and how are they going to change in the future?
• How are sources or sinks of greenhouse gases in forests related to the national commitments for emission reduction? Which options are there for the future?
• What are possible impacts of different options?
• How are different forest management strategies and carbon stock changes related?

Questions of this kind are discussed by decision makers in politics and economy, but also in the public community. As part of a governmental research institute of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection we give advice to the federal government, especially in connection with the development of policies and in the context of national and international negotiations regarding greenhouse gas emission reduction. We represent the Ministry in discussions within national and international bodies as required.

For Instance we are involved in:

• the production, review and assessment of reports regarding climate change and forests
• the development of negotiation strategies regarding international efforts to limit climate change
• the development of technical accounting rules for deforestation, afforestation, reforestation and forest management
• the development of technical guidelines for reporting greenhouse gas emissions and in regard to forests
• the design and development of forest inventories and other relevant data collection procedures

Of course we also use our professional expertise and the results of any exchanges with our partners in politics and science to constantly identify needs to improve the inventories, to develop concepts and optimize methods for preparing greenhouse gas inventories.

This results in maximal synergetic effects for the benefit of both our consulting activities and our work on greenhouse gas inventories.