Professor Hans Joosten from Germany is a world expert on peatland carbon storage, restoration of peatlands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their role in climate change. His talk will provide a global perspective on the important role that peatlands play in global climate change and how other countries around the world are now incorporating them in their approach to meet the 1.5 C degree challenge. He will present the challenges we face with restoring wetlands, worldwide examples of restoration and new perspectives on why peatlands are now a critical component of reducing GHG emissions. For example, few agencies know that a 15 cm thick layer of peat may contain per ha more carbon than a High-Carbon-Stock tropical rainforest on mineral soil or that peatlands contain twice the carbon stock of the World鈥檚 total forest biomass. Drained they are a major contributor to GHG additions to the atmosphere. He will present several solutions that are being undertaken to reduce this problem worldwide.
Speaker Bio
Hans Joosten (1955) is Professor emeritus. of Peatland Studies and Palaeoecology at Greifswald University (Germany). He has published extensively on peatland (palaeo)ecology, conservation, restoration, and paludiculture, including various handbooks, was involved in developing global and regional carbon standards, in UNFCCC negotiations and IPCC guidance development with respect to peatland emissions, in FAO in advancing climate-responsible peatland management, and in UNESCO World Heritage nominations. Hans is Secretary-General of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), co-founder of the Greifswald Mire Centre (GMC), steering committee member of the UN Global Peatlands Initiative (GPI), and member of the STRP of the Ramsar Convention. For his commitment to peatland research and conservation, Hans was awarded an honorary doctorate from Batumi University (Georgia, 2010), the German Sustainability Award (2013), the European CULTURA Award (2013), the membership of Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs Akademi (Norway, 2014), the Indonesian Peat Prize (2018), the German Environmental Price (2021) and the Federal Cross of Merit (Germany, 2022).
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