Forests are natural carbon sinks, but without sustainable and climate-adapted management, they can become a source of CO2. Extreme events such as drought, heat, forest fires, disease, bark beetle infestation and storms contribute to this. As a result of this damage, more trees die, which further degrades biomass. The effect of this is twofold: less CO₂ is stored and at the same time, more CO₂ is released than can be offset by soils and wood. Failure to adapt forest management to changing climatic conditions and over-exploitation of forests, which restricts their natural regeneration capacity, exacerbates these negative consequences:
- Increase in CO₂ emissions
- Loss of temperature-regulating functions
- Increase in heatwaves and droughts
- Increased risk of flooding
- Threats to biodiversity and habitats
- Loss of recreational areas and landscape
Forest projects are therefore essential. Technical solutions for carbon storage are not an alternative to this, but they represent a useful addition in the long term.
From solution to problem: how forests turn from a sink to a source without targeted measures
Current forest inventories in Germany, Austria and Switzerland show that climate change has profoundly changed forests in all three countries. In Germany, forests have been a source of CO2 since 2017. Around 41.5 million tonnes of carbon, previously stored in living biomass, have been released by the death and decomposition of trees. Calamities, exacerbated by climate change, have destroyed the sink function. Experts have observed a similar trend in Austria and Switzerland. In regions such as the Waldviertel, Styria, the Jura, the Mittelland, Ticino and Valais, storage capacity is declining significantly. The forest is becoming visibly more vulnerable.
But the tide can be turned. With the right strategy, forests can once again become a strong ally in climate protection. This is where nature-based projects like myclimate come in. They rely on the following measures to increase carbon sequestration in Germany, Austria and Switzerland:
- Climate-adapted, near-natural forest management
- Promotion of location-appropriate and resilient mixed forests
- Long-term care to protect against pests and diseases
- Targeted planting of climate-resilient tree species
- Preservation and build-up of humus and dead wood structures to lock in CO₂
In this way, the forest can not only recover, but also regain its central function as a carbon sink – and thus become an effective lever in the fight against the climate crisis.
More than just storing emissions: why the co-benefits of nature-based projects are key
Technical sinks (e.g. direct air capture or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. However, they are currently associated with high costs, limited scalability and uncertainty. Although these technologies remove emissions from the atmosphere, this sensible but symptom-oriented solution alone is not enough. Our long-term future can only be secured through the intact climate resilience of our ecosystems. Forests have great potential as natural CO₂ sinks and are a key component of the climate strategy. If they are to fulfil their role in the long term, targeted measures and sustainable, climate-adapted management are needed. This will make forests more resilient, prevent them from becoming sources of CO₂ and actively absorb CO₂ through biomass and soil.
The additional ecological, social and economic benefits are also promoted, such as through climate-conscious forest management in our project in Zofingen or the sustainable use of timber in the Beatenberg natural forest reserve. Benefits not offered by technical solutions include, for example, regulating the water balance, protecting against natural hazards such as erosion and flooding, and supporting local forest owners and communities by creating regional jobs.
High-quality and uniform standards as a guarantee of success
myclimate meets these challenges by carefully selecting projects that are implemented to the highest standards. For example, the Plan Vivo Standard is used for international projects. For our regional projects in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, myclimate uses appropriate regional quality standards that guarantee ecological integrity, CO2 efficiency and social and conservation criteria. All projects are regularly reviewed and externally verified to ensure their effectiveness and credibility. Through this rigorous selection and monitoring, myclimate helps minimise the risks associated with forest projects and makes a real contribution to climate protection.
Do you want to help maintain our forests and their carbon storage? Invest in our nature-based solutions!
Further Information:
List of sources:
- Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) & Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). (2025). Forest Report 2025: Development, Condition and Use of Swiss Forests. Bern: FOEN & WSL. www.bafu.admin.ch/uz-2501-e
- Bauhus, J., Puettmann, K., & Messier, C. (2009). Silviculture for old-growth attributes. Forest Ecology and Management, 258(4), 525–537.
- Federal Forest Research Centre (BFW). (2025). Austria’s forests in times of climate change: Results of the Austrian Forest Inventory 2018–2023 (available in German only). Vienna: BFW.https://www.schutzwald.at/service/news/wissen/2025/bfw-klimakapriolen-fordern-oesterreichs-wald-heraus-waldinventur-2018-bis-2023.html
- BMEL & Thünen Institute. (2024). Fourth Federal Forest Inventory – State of the Forest in Germany 2024 (available in German only) www.bundeswaldinventur.de
- BMEL. (2023). Forest Report 2021 – State and performance of Germany’s forests (available in German only) www.bmel.de/DE/themen/wald/wald-in-deutschland/waldbericht2021.html
- BMUV. (2024). German Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (available in German only). https://www.bmuv.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Klima
anpassung/das_2024_strategie_bf.pdf - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). (2023). Promoting forest landscape restoration, climate action and human well-being www.giz.de/en/worldwide/128925.html
- Fuss, S., et al. (2018). Negative emissions—Part 2: Costs, potentials and side effects. Environmental Research Letters, 13(6), 063002.
- Helmholtz Climate Initiative (2022). Forests in climate change – carbon sinks under pressure (available in German only). Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). Retrieved 28 May 2025, from www.helmholtz-klima.de/aktuelles/wald-klima
- IPCC. (2022). Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report.
- myclimate. (2024). Projects in the field of forestry and biodiversity. www.myclimate.org/en/get-active/climate-protection-projects/detail-climate-protection-projects/land-use-switzerland-7823-009/
- Seidl, R., Thom, D., Kautz, M., et al. (2017). Forest disturbances under climate change. Nature Climate Change, 7(6), 395–402.
- Smith, P., et al. (2016). Biophysical and economic limits to negative CO₂ emissions. Nature Climate Change, 6, 42–50.
- Waldwissen.net. (2019). Dead wood in the forest – origin, importance and exploitation (available in German, French and Italian). www.waldwissen.net/de/lebensraum-wald/naturschutz/totholz-im-wald