Anthropogenic climate change is affecting our world. Time lapses show that it is happening ten times faster than natural climate change. As far as we can see from the existing weather recordings, the last 20 years have been the hottest and driest years. At the same time, heavy rainfalls and floods have become more frequent during this period. These weather extremes clearly show that we need to actively support our ecosystems in adapting to climate change in Germany as well. Climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation – both must go hand in hand. Our forests and soils are important climate change mitigators. We need to stabilise them.