How do we prepare for climate change?

The path to becoming one of the world’s top research centres for climate science is a steep one. One sunny day in May, a group of international guests is travelling to the renowned Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which is located on a hill that is 94 metres high, the Telegraphenberg, to the south-east of Potsdam’s city centre. Unfortunately, they missed the direct bus connection from the station, so they now have to cover the last few yards on foot. When they get to the top of the hill, the group is welcomed by Professor Fred Hattermann, deputy head of the Hydroclimatic Risks Unit at PIK, and his colleague Dr. Thirza van Laar, a postdoc at PIK, in front of an imposing brick building: formerly an astrophysical observatory, its rooms are now used by the institute, as Hattermann explains.

In the course of the next hour, Hattermann and van Laar talk about climate change and explain what measures Germany is taking to prepare for increasing extreme weather events. This is precisely the reason why those taking part in this official German visitors programme have travelled here from 14 countries: to find out how climate protection works here in Germany and what expertise they can take back with them to their own countries to effectively drive forward the energy transition. “Adapting to Climate Change in Germany” is the theme of the week-long tour.

Worthwhile dialogue at the operational level

Lina Y. H. Almobuideen, project manager at the Jordanian Ministry of Energy, is surprised at how severely Germany is already affected by droughts as a result of climate change. “What is Germany doing to protect its drinking water?” she asks. Hattermann says this is not a cause for worry – or at least not yet. “We don’t have a problem with the drinking water at the moment, but in order to guarantee sufficient quality we do need a certain water inflow. In the Berlin region this is currently eight cubic metres per second.” In future that will be difficult to maintain, says Hattermann, which is why they are considering diverting water from the Elbe. “That’s a thorny political issue, of course: people will immediately claim we’re taking something away from another region. But unpopular measures of this kind will be needed at some point.” Amritha Ganapathy, an architect and urban planner from Bengaluru, India, couldn't agree more. “This is the kind of problem we grapple with all the time. What advice can you give us from a German perspective?” Hattermann’s recommendation: “In our view, the most effective way to do this is to raise awareness of climate issues in society at large. In addition to conducting research, we see this as one of the main tasks of our institute.”

This is something a lot of climate experts have long come to accept of course, especially if they’re from regions where climate change already poses an existential threat. Raj Kushaal Kirtesh is Director of Pacific Policy at Conservation International, based in Suva, Fiji. The island nation situated around 2,000 kilometres north of New Zealand is in danger of sinking into the sea. Kirtesh tirelessly meets with political decision-makers around the world to draw attention to the difficult situation his home country is faced with. What he finds fascinating about the visitor programme in Germany is that it enables contact with people who are involved at the operational level. “Normally I only get to deal with relatively high-ranking politicians,” he explains. “That makes sense, of course, but it’s just as worthwhile to be able to discuss specific measures with practitioners directly, without having to follow a protocol. And that’s exactly what the theme trip here in Germany offers.” Before the visit to Potsdam, Kirtesh and the other participants had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Visit to Sanssouci Park

Hattermann’s colleague Thirza van Laar tells visitors about the state of German forests. In short: the situation is not particularly rosy. The increasingly frequent and prolonged droughts are having a severe impact on plants. The researcher is investigating how forests can be made more resilient under these conditions. “The problem is monocultures, such as here in Brandenburg,” explains van Laar. The aim is to avoid these and gradually replace them with a broader variety of tree species – quite a challenging task in Germany. “For a long time, forests were primarily seen as an economic asset here,” she explains. “Due to the high level of demand for timber during the reconstruction phase after the Second World War, the focus was primarily on fast-growing monocultures, so little importance was attached to plant diversity.” At the moment, only 3.5 percent of German forest is under protection – something that Jessica Christine Maes, a journalist from São Paulo, can hardly believe. In Brazil the figure is around 30 percent.

The visit to Potsdam comes to a beautiful though rather depressing conclusion in the park of Sanssouci Palace. Over an area of more than 750 hectares, there are numerous trees: some of them are majestic in stature, but almost 80 percent are now suffering from the effects of climate change. “The damage caused by heat, drought and extreme weather conditions has increased rapidly in recent years and is now visible to the naked eye”, says Professor Christoph Martin Vogtherr, Director General of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG), adding: “The old trees in the parks are particularly affected, often the older specimens.” The foundation has set up an open-air exhibition entitled “Re:Generation. climate change in the green world heritage site – and what we can do”: the aim is to raise awareness among the public and particularly among political decision-makers. In the course of the tour, the group also sees some wonderful old trees which at first glance don’t seem to be doing too badly: they’re in full bloom. But that’s actually a bad sign, as the participants learn from their guide Sven Kerschek of the SPSG. "The trees are frantically trying to reproduce. It’s a fight for survival.”