COP23 side event: The need for local action to sustain peatlands globally
The UN Climate Change Conference, COP23, has just started (6-17 November 2017) in Bonn. This year’s focus is on the development of guidelines on how the Paris Agreement’s provisions will be implemented across a wide range of issues including transparency, adaptation, emission reductions, provision of finance, capacity-building and technology. The aim is make progress in all these areas so that the guidelines can be completed by COP24 in Poland in 2018.
Wetlands International has been attending previous COP influencing the mitigation agenda. During the UNFCCC CoP21 in Paris, Wetlands International, together with Ramsar convention on Wetlands, Convention on Biological Diversity and UN Convention to Combat Desertification set out a roadmap to kick‐start reductions in peat carbon emissions, reverse land degradation, enhance biodiversity and livelihoods.
Wetlands International is advocating for peatlands to be treated as lands with a high mitigation potential that also offer strong opportunities for climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Peatland emission mitigation efforts should be given high priority and be included in the NDCs of high peatland pollution countries.
On 10th November, Wetlands International together with Succow Foundation, partner of Greifsward Mire Centre will held an event “The need for local action to sustain peatlands globally”, in the frame of the Global Peatlands Initiative. The side event will provide an opportunity for governments, institutions, stakeholders and partners to exchange and discuss other practical examples and approaches that are advancing efforts to protect peatlands from fires, loss and degradation.
Note
Emissions from drained and degrading peatlands (organic soils) are almost double the amount of CO2 emissions from aviation, even without skyrocketing emissions from peat fires. Wetlands International has just released a briefing showing the progress on tackling peatland emissions against a roadmap we set-out with three global conventions in 2015. We showcase examples of initiatives leading the way to safeguard and restore peatlands and call for action of countries to act on peatlands.
Download the Briefing [Download not found]
Global Peatlands Initiative is an initiative that brings together key UN agencies, Governments, and NGOs to provide best possible support to parties for the conservation, restoration and better management of peatlands, and to facilitate South-South Cooperation.