COP30 │ The Peatland Breakthrough: From Evidence to Action

Peatlands are the world’s most carbon-dense terrestrial ecosystems, storing twice as much carbon as all forests’ biomass combined. Yet, they continue to be degraded, emitting significant greenhouse gases and threatening biodiversity, water regulation, and livelihoods. The Global Peatlands Assessment (GPA) 2022 highlights the urgency of reversing this trend and offers solid evidence to support the need for global action.

The Peatland Breakthrough (PB) is a collaborative effort to accelerate and mobilize action to conserve, rewet and restore, and enable the sustainable, wise use of the world’s peatlands in ways that maintain their essential functions to support climate goals, water security, biodiversity, and people’s livelihoods.

The Peatland Breakthrough provides a science-based framework with global targets and guiding principles developed through an inclusive and consultative process to ensure they are scientifically robust and widely accepted. It aims to significantly upscale and accelerate actions to support the conservation and restoration of peatlands, to reduce emissions, support removals, enhance resilience, and strengthen pathways aligned with the Paris Agreement goals. As part of the 2030 Breakthrough Agenda launched at UNFCCC COP26, the Peatland Breakthrough sets clear 2030 goals to accelerate action this decade toward climate-resilient net-zero pathways.

• Nature Hub Pavilion, UNFCCC COP30, Belém, Brazil
• 17th November 2025
• 14:30 - 15:30 (GMT-3)

Objective of the Event

This one-hour event aims to:

1. Draw on the Global Peatlands Assessment and Global Peatlands Hotspot Atlas to demonstrate the urgency for coordinated global action to halt peatland degradation and unlock their potential for climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development goals.
2. Provide an overview of the Peatland Breakthrough, outlining its vision and collaborative approach to scaling peatland action globally, and set the stage for a more detailed presentation of its targets and principles’ framework during the official COP30 side event at 6:30pm that same day.
3. Highlight “wise use” solutions, including paludiculture as a nature-positive approach that reconciles livelihoods with restoration.
4. Share experiences on enabling policy and finance frameworks, such as the UK Peatland Code, as examples of scalable, incentive-based models.

Expected Outcomes

• Reinforced recognition of peatlands as a critical yet underrepresented climate and biodiversity priority.
• Enhanced understanding of the Peatland Breakthrough’s role as a global mechanism to mobilize collective action, policy alignment, and investment.
• Increased visibility and anticipation ahead of the official Peatland Breakthrough side event later the same day.
• Strengthened dialogue on wise use solutions, such as paludiculture, and the enabling policies and financial mechanisms that support them.

The Peatland Breakthrough is a global call to action led by Wetlands International, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Greifswald Mire Centre, developed in close alignment with the Global Peatlands Initiative, and in collaboration with the High-Level Climate Champions Team and the Convention on Wetlands.

Our growing list of partners includes: Landscape Finance Lab, the Global Environment Centre, RE-PEAT, and The Nature Conservancy.