Nationally Determined Contributions, UNEA4 Peatlands Resolution, Brazzaville Declaration, International Tropical Peatland Center, Venice Agreement
UNEP’s GPI supports its partner countries in integrating peatlands into their policies and legislation to ensure effective protection at the national level.
In a first step, the needs of pilot countries with substantial peat coverage are identified through building the knowledge base and developing options to reduce degradation. Then, the sustainability of peatland management is improved including through restoration and the development and adoption of sustainable peatland strategies and action plans, and notably their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
In 2023, Peru's proposal for a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, focused on the "Conservation and Sustainable Management of Amazonian Peatlands" was approved by the High-Level Commission on Climate Change. This marks a significant step toward protecting 2.5 million hectares of peatlands from 2023 to 2030. UNEP-GPI played a crucial role in supporting this collaborative effort, which contributes to Peru’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.
In 2022, the "Venice Agreement: Protecting Global Peatlands Locally" was signed as a poetically binding declaration of local and regional-level best practices on World Peatlands Day. By taking a bottom-up approach that recognises local initiatives as key collaborators in the international process of peatland conservation, The Venice Agreement set a new standard for the valuation and practice of protecting and restoring peatlands at the local level. The GPI was a key supporter and signatory of the agreement.
In 2019, the groundbreaking UNEA4 Peatlands Resolution was adopted by all member states with peatlands at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. There were representatives from the European Union, Indonesia, Norway, the United States and UNEP. The resolution requests UNEP to “coordinate efforts to create a comprehensive and accurate global peatlands inventory”: without reliable data, policymakers don’t even know where these “carbon hotspots” are, and they cannot effect sustainable change. The GPI facilitated these discussions that resulted in a commitment to promote climate action, ecosystem restoration, resilience, and drainage-free livelihoods. This commitment ultimately led to the creation of the Global Peatlands Assessment.
In 2018, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, and Indonesia signed the Brazzaville Declaration to protect the Congo Basin’s vast tropical peatlands, the largest in the world. This landmark agreement, supported by the Global Peatlands Initiative (GPI), aims to safeguard this crucial carbon store from unregulated land use, which could release the equivalent of three years' worth of global greenhouse gas emissions if degraded. The GPI played a key role in fostering collaboration between these nations, with Indonesia sharing its extensive experience in peatland management to promote sustainable development in the region.
In 2018, building on the commitment from the Brazzaville Declaration and at the conclusion of a South-South Cooperation week in Indonesia, representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, and Indonesia launched the interim secretariat of the International Tropical Peatland Center (ITPC) in Jakarta. Supported by the GPI, the ITPC serves as a hub for international collaboration on tropical peatland research, sustainable management practices, and capacity building. This centre marked a major step forward in bridging science and policy for the protection of peatlands, uniting countries with vast peatland areas in a shared effort to protect these vital ecosystems.
