| Abstract |
Global peatlands are in decline with an estimated 11-15% of these ecosystems having been drained for agriculture, grazing, peat mining and forestry. A further 5-10% are degraded through vegetation removal or alteration. Peatland decline has slowed somewhat in temperate and boreal regions, but the loss of tropical peatlands continues at a high rate. If unchecked, the area of peatland converted in tropical regions could increase to around 300,000 square kilometers (km2) by 2050 . This is almost double today’s drained peatland area in the tropics.The conservation, sustainable management and restoration of peatlands worldwide provides an important socio-economic and environmental opportunity. Peatlands are particularly vital for combatting the climate crisis. They are one of the largest terrestrial organic carbon stocks globally, storing twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. If undisturbed, peat layers are an effective permanent store of carbon. Peatlands can be part of an effective climate change mitigation strategy, and they could help countries meet Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to global climate action. In addition, parties to the Paris Agreement have acknowledged the importance of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women when taking actions to address climate change.Peatlands also provide a wide range of other important ecological, economic and cultural benefits. They represent a habitat for many unique and threatened species while also supporting water cycles, controlling pollution and sediments, serving as a source of locally harvested products, and existing as an inspiration for art, religion, and other cultural values (see Table 3).2 Economic assessments confirm that the benefits of these ecosystems are considerable. Investment in peatlands conservation, restoration and sustainable management is a triple win for people, the climate, and biodiversity. The principal cause for the mismanagement of global peatlands is that their economic contributionsare undervalued. Commercial activities and policies that degrade and convert these high-carbonecosystems often ignore or fail to account adequately for their benefits to society. In addition, global peatland conservation and restoration suffer from chronic underinvestment. Current public and private funding directed towards peatlands falls well short of what is needed to save such valuable ecosystems. Although the economic and environmental benefits of peatlands are often considerable, the cost of restoring degraded or drained peatlands can be high, especially in tropical regions . To rewet 40% of drained peatlands by 2050, annual global investments in peatland restoration must rise from nearly US$19 billion annually to US$31 billion by 2030, to US$39 billion by 2040, and then in excess of US$46 billion by 2050. Investing in cost-effective tropical peatlandconservation and restoration for carbon mitigation would reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 800 million tonnes per year (equivalent to Germany’s emissions), requiring an annual investment of US$28.3 billion for conservation and US$11.7 billion more for restoration. Because these irrecoverable stores of carbon are disappearing quickly, the bill for saving peatlands will only rise further if we fail to invest now. The opportunity cost of delaying action on peatland conservation and restoration as part of a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy could be substantial.Some governments have begun to recognize the socio-economic importance of peatlands and areadopting better policies for their conservation, restoration and sustainable management. But overcoming the current widespread problems of peatland undervaluation and underinvestment requires a range of innovative policy and financing initiatives. These actions should form the basis for a global strategy for promoting peatlands as a nature-based solution. All countries with significant peatland areas should ensure that the values provided by these ecosystems are adequately considered in reference to land use decisions that have the potential to inflict damages, degrade or destroy peatlands. Ending the undervaluing of peatlands requires countries to adopt policies, regulations and other actions that improve conservation, restoration and sustainable management of their peatlands. Global peatland protection and restoration also suffer from chronic underinvestment. The current public and private funding of peatlands falls well short of what is needed to save these valuable ecosystems. If they are to be part of a global strategy of nature-based solutions to prevent climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental threats, then much more needs to be done to invest in peatlands, especially in tropical regions. |
, Joanne C. Burgess 
