News
At New York Climate Week
Momentum building for the Peatland Breakthrough
26/09/2025 Peatland Breakthrough is a call-to-action that aspires to enable systemic changes to protect and restore peatlands on a large scale. By bringing together governments, the private sector, donors, and civil society, the Breakthrough aims to help accelerate conservation, restoration, and sustainable and wise use of peatlands worldwide, guided by robust science-based targets and principles.
During New York Climate Week 2025, 25th September, governments, donors, international organisations, and the private sector, gathered for an exclusive high-level meeting hosted by the Government of Peru and partners of the Peatland Breakthrough. The meeting was a pivotal opportunity to mobilise broad support and strengthen partnerships to drive the Peatland Breakthrough forward, ensuring that peatlands are recognized as a key nature based solution for accelerating progress for the global climate agenda, while also contributing to biodiversity, water security, and sustainable livelihoods.
Peatland ecosystems hold unparalleled significance in combating climate change and achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. They cover only 3% of global land surface but store up to one-third of the planet's soil carbon, double the carbon found in the world’s forest biomass. Beyond their climate mitigation benefits, peatlands enhance community and ecosystem resilience by regulating water flows, reducing flood and drought risks, providing critical habitats for flora and fauna, supporting livelihoods, and enhancing water quality. In fact, the estimated global value of peatland ecosystem services is about USD 2.3 trillion.
Unfortunately, peatlands are being degraded in every part of the world. They are drained for agriculture and forestry, eroded by overgrazing of livestock, mined for fuel and horticulture, and polluted by human activity. Infrastructure development disturbs their hydrology and many are deliberately burned. When we lose peatlands as healthy thriving ecosystems, we not only lose their ability to capture carbon, but conversely, they release large amounts of greenhouse gases. Degraded peatlands currently emit about 4 % of all anthropogenic emissions. Conserving and sustainably managing peatlands and restoring degraded ones must therefore be prioritised to accelerate progress in tackling climate change.
The meeting brought together potential Champion Countries and strategic partners to learn more about the Peatland Breakthrough, explore how they could contribute, and understand the benefits of engaging with this new climate breakthrough, both in the lead-up to its official launch and throughout its implementation. The event was hosted by Juan Carlos Castro Vargas, Minister of Environment of Peru, who emphasized Peru’s role as the first Champion Country of the Peatland Breakthrough.
Peru’s Minister of Environment emphasized the importance of collective action among countries, the private sector, and international partners to achieve clear, measurable goals for peatland protection and climate ambition.
Following presentations on the initiative, roundtable discussions featured high-level participants from the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, who reaffirmed their commitments and highlighted the need for adequate financing to achieve their national climate targets.
Wetlands International, on behalf of Peatland Breakthrough partners, outlined the initiative’s draft global targets and guiding principles aimed at driving systemic change and collective impact. The organization underscored that investing in peatlands offers one of the most effective climate solutions—combining carbon storage, ecosystem resilience, and economic efficiency.
Potential donors and partners including The Nature Conservancy, Diageo, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies expressed interest in contributing to the effort, exploring opportunities to align their work and investments with the global peatland and climate agendas.
Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin, and Executive Secretary of the Congo Basin Climate Commission of the Republic of Congo, reaffirmed her country’s commitments to conserving the Congo Basin’s intact peatlands. She emphasized that conservation cannot be achieved without adequate financing for the energy transition and the country’s NDCs, which depend both on domestic resources and international support. In addition, high-level representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia presented their ongoing peatland programmes and shared the challenges they face, agreeing that the Peatland Breakthrough can help mobilize critical funding needed to meet their climate goals.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) emphasized the importance of the Peatland Breakthrough for achieving global climate goals and its relevance to the Paris Agreement, particularly ahead of the upcoming events at UNFCCC COP30. Collaboration and leadership from governments and donors are crucial to unlocking the full potential of peatlands. UNEP presented the current state of the world’s peatlands and progress made through joint initiatives such as the Global Peatlands Initiative and its Global Peatlands Assessment, highlighting that peatlands are a cost-effective nature-based solution that must not be overlooked.
Mara Angélica Murillo-Correa, Senior Programme Officer for Intergovernmental Affairs at UNEP, summed it up: “No Paris without peatlands.” Protecting and restoring peatlands is essential to closing the emissions gap and safeguarding biodiversity. The Peatland Breakthrough provides the political momentum and financial ambition to turn scientific knowledge into transformative global action.
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, and the Landscape Finance Lab, 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 supporting partners includes: the Global Environment Centre, RE-PEAT, and The Nature Conservancy.
Image 1: Environmental ministers and leaders from NGOs and the private sector at the Permanent Mission of Peru to the UN, New York (Credit: GPI)
Image 2: Roundtable discussions ensued following exciting presentations on the Peatland Breakthrough (Credit: GPI)