UNFCCC COP28: Towards a global stocktake for peatlands
The 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which took place from 30 November to 12 December 2023 at Expo City Dubai, saw a continuation of high-level momentum for peatlands action.
The flagship event Towards a global stocktake for peatlands: status & scaling up potential (8 December 2023), hosted by UNEP, the GPI, and partners Wetlands International, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, and Michael Succow Stiftung - partner in the Greifswald Mire Centre, highlighted policies, funding, and best practices for keeping these carbon sinks in the climate fight.
UNEP Ecosystems Deputy Director Bruno Pozzi (pictured above alongside Dr Franziska Tanneberger, Head of the Greifswald Mire Centre (GMC), right) underscored that achieving the world’s climate goals requires keeping carbon locked away in healthy peatlands and restoring and rewetting these special areas, which have been drained and degraded. He emphasized the need for global scale action, noting the impact and results of the Global Peatlands Initiative since its launch in 2016, with 55 members working together globally and directly supporting four major tropical peatland countries.
Read all about it in this piece by IISD, and don't miss this recording of the event.
It is notable that in the lead-up to and during UNFCCC COP28, countries have been calling for the creation of a taskforce to develop a peatlands target that bridges both water and land for COP29. As Pozzi clarified at the COP Presidency event Enhancing food and nature linkages for climate action, special efforts are needed on initiatives such as the Global Peatlands Initiative that boost mitigation and adaptation: nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, resilient low-carbon infrastructure, etc., which includes the need for urgent funding to enable scaling up of peatlands protection, restoration and sustainable management.