BaumInvest Movie Tip: Ökozid

CLIMATE PROTECTOR FOREST – HOW DO WE SUCCEED EXTRACTING CO2 FROM THE ATMOSPHERE?

The only known natural way to actively extract CO₂ from the atmosphere is: through forests. By photosynthesizing, the trees absorb CO₂ and permanently bind it – which is why wood consists of 50% carbon. It is of utter importance, however, to emphasize that the effectivity of this process relies on a good combination of the right tree species.

The more a tree grows, the more CO₂ it can bind; and the amount of CO₂ bound by each tree is much higher in the tropical climates, since trees grow all-year. They can bind up to 12 to 15 kilos of CO₂ per tree. Globally, rainforests currently contain 17% of all carbon bound in vegetation and soil.

For this reason, BaumInvest has been afforesting rainforests in Costa Rica with mixed forests for 13 years. We refuse planting monocultures, because only mixed forests contribute to the preservation of native tree species and the biodiversity developing around them – 25% of all land owned by BaumInvest (2051ha) is considered natural reserves. It’s about sustainably cultivating these forests with continuous selective harvests instead of a single clear-cut. It’s about using our high-quality wood in a meaningful way after the harvest instead of selling cheap firwood. It’s about finding a meaningful way of storing CO₂, conserving biodiversity and protecting the great number of environmental services the forests does for us – may it be the protection of soils, water or species.

Forests are more than climate protection; they contribute to climate adaption. The effects of climate change are destructive and natural forces like hurricanes, floods and extended droughts are becoming more and more frequent.

One scenario for a potential future with ever-rising temperatures can be seen in the movie “Ökozid”.

This telefilm from 2020 portrays the future year 2034, showing the devastating after-effects of a number of climate related calamities. Droughts and floods keep destroying people’s livelihood. Even the International Court of Justice in Hague has been abandoned after the third flooding, immediately following the second and first flood. In an interim office building in Berlin, the climate catastrophe becomes subject of a legal process. Two lawyers defend 31 countries of the global South, which are doomed without the support of the global society. The bring about important questions of responsibility, demand compensation for the damages and a right to the integrity of the person – to save their lives.

High ranking representatives of politics and industry have been summoned to testify and the court must judge, whether the German government should be convicted, based on their failure to protect the climate. This would create a precedent.

This telefilm is available in the ARD media library for 3 months after airing. (Status: Oct. 6th 2020)
Ökozid | Video is available until 18.02.2021 | Image: rbb/zero one film / Julia Terjung