On the Occasion of Arbor Day 2023

Trees are an essential factor in our climate system. They bind carbon and release oxygen. According to a rule of thumb, one hectare of forest filters around six tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year.

However, a tree only experiences its greatest growth phase with increasing age – i.e. from an age of 15 to 30 years, depending on the species and location.

This means: building with wood can contribute to carbon sequestration – but we have to make sure that for every tree that is felled, a replacement is planted in time. Only in this way can we maintain the CO₂-binding capacity of our forests undiminished.

“Reforestation”, Werner Sobek therefore admonishes in his statement 8, “is the order of the day”. He provides the explanation in the following statement: While emissions produced by natural processes can be compensated for in nature through photosynthesis, there is no natural binding potential for those produced by humans.