Dear Participants of the Botanik-Tagung 2024 in Halle,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you all to the Botanik-Tagung 2024 in Halle. On behalf of all the members of the German Society for Plant Sciences, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the organisers in Halle, especially Professor Edgar Peiter and his team, for making this conference possible. A big thank you also for the innovations that make the conference more accessible and equitable, such as providing childcare services and organizing the inaugural Early Career Researcher Satellite Conference—a tradition we hope will continue in the years to come.
The theme of our conference is "Growing Solutions for Growing Challenges". As I mentioned in my opening address at the Botanik-Tagung 2022 in Bonn, one of the greatest challenges we face is anthropogenic climate change. In the two years since 2022, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen from 416.18 ppm to 421.75 ppm, an increase of 1.38% in just two years. If this trend continues, we will reach 495 ppm in 2050, which would cause the global average temperature to rise by 2K above pre-industrial levels. This trajectory puts us on course to exceed the 1.5 K threshold set by the Paris Agreement. Removing enough carbon from the atmosphere to halt and eventually reverse climate change is unlikely to be possible through technological processes, but will require plants and therefore plant science to achieve.
While climate change is at the centre of public media and debate, the other growing challenge, biodiversity loss, is less visible. Yet, the decline in biodiversity poses an even greater threat to human life, as we depend on functioning ecosystems for food, clean water, and numerous other services essential to our well-being. Yet we are irreversibly losing between 150 and 200 species per day as a result of human activities, which is 100 to 1000 times higher than the background rate of natural extinction.
Plants, algae and cyanobacteria, through photosynthesis, form the base of most food webs and are therefore crucial for ecosystem function. Plants also provide habitats, contribute to soil health and stabilisation and nutrient cycling, and have a direct impact on climate regulation and stabilisation. Plant science is therefore also central to developing solutions to prevent biodiversity loss.
Growing solutions to these growing challenges involves three components: plants, people and society as a whole. The role of plants has already been mentioned. Without the initiative of people—particularly well-trained scientists—we cannot drive the transformative change that is urgently needed. Moreover, we must engage with society at large to garner the support and investment necessary to meet these challenges.
Growing solutions also means going beyond the academic ivory tower. While we excel in basic research and in generating publications and patents, we often struggle to bridge the “valley of death” between academic discovery and practical application. It’s imperative that academia becomes more proactive in translating research into societal benefits, whether through startups, collaborations with philanthropic initiatives, or partnerships with industry. In Germany, we often hesitate to engage in such translational activities, which limits our capacity to develop effective solutions. Now is the time to change this mindset.
Growing solutions also require us as plant scientists to reach out and collaborate with other disciplines such as agronomy, soil science, engineering and construction. We need to work across national borders, overcoming the limitations of nationally bound funding in an inherently international scientific community. This will demand creativity, cooperation, and advocacy—including exploring unconventional funding avenues. Embracing innovation and accelerating translation are essential.
The Botanik Tagung 2024 brings together these crucial elements: plants, people and society. As reflected by our conference programme, we are bringing together diverse disciplines, from ecology to molecular biology. In particular, the strong focus on early career researchers will have a lasting impact. Now is the time to take the initiative, get involved and innovate!
I now wish you all a pleasant and productive time here in Halle!
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Professor Dr. Andreas Weber, 15th September 2024, at Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany, President of the German Society for Plant Sciences (Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft, DBG), Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf