The Global Peatlands Initiative: Assessing, Measuring and Preserving Peat Carbon

State of implementation/results

• Launch ‘Global Peatlands Hotspots Atlas: The State of the World’s Peatlands in Maps’ at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP) 29 in Azerbaijan (www.unep.org/…).
• Launch of the ‘Virtual Peatlands Pavilion World Tour 2025’ (storage.net-fs.com/…).
• Launch of the ‘Evidence Synthesis and Policy Engagement Training Programme for Peatlands’ a fully funded virtual training opportunity for researchers to develop practical skills to influence global environmental policy (old.methodsinnovation.org/…:~:text=This%20is%20a%20virtual%20training,synthesis%20in%20a%20peer%2Dreviewed).
• Launch of the interactive online Global Peatland Map developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Peatlands Initiative with support of the World Environmental Situation Room (WESR), integrating regional Story Maps to inform scientists, policymakers and the public (wesrmapportal.unep.org/…;page=Page).
• The Venice Agreement, a global commitment to peatland conservation, originally signed in 2022, was updated in 2024 to strengthen local stewardship, governance and sustainable practices for ecosystem protection and community well-being to protect global peatlands locally (globalpeatlands.org/…).
• Updated Global Peatlands Initiative website (globalpeatlands.org).
• The Global Peatlands Initiative receives UNEP’s Kipepeo Award for Environmental Impact, highlighting its role in peatland protection, policy and finance while reinforcing peatlands’ importance on the global environmental agenda (www.unep.org/…:~:text=The%20initiative%20has%20delivered%20the,and%20investing%20in%20healthy%20peatlands.).
• Launch of the ‘Global Peatlands Assessment – The State of the World’s Peatlands: Evidence for action toward the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of peatlands’ report, at the UNFCCC COP27 in Sharm El Sheik (Egypt) (globalpeatlands.org/…).
• Launch of new translated versions of the ‘Global Peatlands Assessment – Summary for Policy Makers’ (English, Spanish and French versions: wedocs.unep.org/…).
• Launch of the ‘Peatland Atlas 2023’, produced by the Michael Succow Stiftung, partner of the Greifswald Mire Centre, BUND - Friends of the Earth Germany and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, in cooperation with the Global Peatlands Initiative (eu.boell.org/…).
• Launch of the ‘Investing in Peatlands’ report, produced by the Landscape Finance Lab and other partner, in cooperation with the Global Peatlands Initiative (landscapefinancelab.org/…).
• Updated Global Peatlands Initiative YouTube Channel with updated training sessions from the Research Working Group and recordings from UNFCCC COP events, UNFCCC Regional Climate Weeks events, Convention on Wetlands COP events, among others (www.youtube.com/…).
• The Global Peatlands Initiative South-South Collaboration is featured as a 2022 global best practice, highlighted on the UN’s South-South Galaxy Platform, promoting and sharing the project’s work to advance SDG 13: Climate Action (southsouth-galaxy.org/…).
• Throughout 2021 and 2022, the Project held 13 training sessions and workshops, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on peatlands mapping and monitoring in Spanish, French and English, for Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of the Congo to discuss key considerations for the elaboration of peatlands maps (globalpeatlands.org/…).
• The report titled ‘Economics of Peatlands Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Management’ was launched as part of the Global Peatlands Initiative’s contribution to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (www.unep.org/…).
• The two technical reports ‘Needs and knowledge gaps on peatlands for climate action. Global survey results’ and ‘Perú y las turberas: Necesidades y brechas de conocimiento’ were published based on the Global Peatlands Initiative assessment of key stakeholders’ needs and gaps when it comes to knowledge and capacity development on peatland matters (www.fao.org/… and www.fao.org/…).
• The ‘Global Peatland Map 2.0’, launched by the Global Peatlands Initiative partners at the Global Peatland Pavilion during UNFCCC COP26, improves the base knowledge on the location and extent of peatlands worldwide (www.globalpeatlands.org/…).
• Establishment of the Virtual Peatlands Pavilion with content from more than 60 organisations (storage.net-fs.com/…), a knowledge platform which hosts a wide range of digital peatlands content from Global Peatlands Initiative partners worldwide in order to offer visitors an interactive, immersive experience in a 3D virtual pavilion with nine thematic ‘floors’ of multi-media content.
• Global Peatlands Pavilion at UNFCCC COP26: 45 sessions and networking events physically and online welcomed over 250 speakers with 2,700 people from 100 countries registered to the online platform. The Global Peatlands Initiative led and/or participated in 15 events at the pavilion and spoke at two events at the Indonesian pavilion (www.globalpeatlands.org/…).
• The Global Peatlands Initiative works with partners to raise awareness of the importance of peatlands restoration and conservation – targeting Europe with Eurosite and the Peatlands Restoration Working Group and joining forces with IUCN UK Peatland Programme for the ‘Peatlands are’ campaign and kicked off a relay of press releases across the world with North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – called the Global Peat Press Project ‘GP3’ Relay (globalpeatlands.org/…).
• The Global Peatlands Initiative supported Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo to include peatlands in their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and supports the implementation of a national peatlands strategy.
• On March 8th 2021, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted its first ever resolution on Peatlands giving the conservation and restoration of degraded peatlands a boost (www.globalpeatlands.org/…).
• The Global Peatlands Initiative publication titled ‘Smoke on Water Rapid Response Assessment – Countering global threats from peatlands loss and degradation’ contains vital information on peatland location, extent, threats and the policies to manage and protect them (www.grida.no/…).
• The Wild for Life and the Global Peatlands Initiative launched the ‘Global Peatlands Initiative/Wild for Life's next immersive journey to the Peatlands - an epic, nature-based solution’, on October 1st, 2020 (wildfor.life/…).
• A Global Landscapes Forum conference session with the International Tropical Peatlands Centre was co-hosted to inform stakeholders on why peatlands matter for food security with Vice Ministers of Peru and Indonesia, Director General Republic of Congo, Head of Democratic Republic of Congo Peatlands Unit. Scientists and communities shared knowledge and experience.
• In March 2020 the peatlands mapping and monitoring workshop was held including the launching of the publication ‘Peatland mapping and monitoring: recommendations and technical overview’ (www.fao.org/…).
• The Global Peatlands Initiative Research Working Group was established in 2019, co-led by Dianna Kopansky from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Mark Reed from Scotland’s Rural College to build capacity among the peatland research community and identify international research funding opportunities for peatlands (globalpeatlands.org/…).
• A High-level Global Peatlands Initiative partners meeting was held in Brazzaville in March 2018, where the Ministers of Environment from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Indonesia signed the ‘Brazzaville Declaration’, which inter alia, provides for close cooperation in the protection of peatlands in the three countries (www.unep.org/…).
• The BMUV's support for the Global Peatlands Initiative project was officially announced at a high-level event at the Global Landscapes Forum in Bonn, with the participation of Indonesia’s Minister of Environment (Siti Nurbaya Bakar).

Latest Update:
04/2025