Climate change is emerging as the defining political, as well as environmental, concern of our era. But, while emerging issues, such as avoided deforestation, are increasingly on the agenda, peatlands have been largely left out of formal negotiations under such instruments as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its associated Kyoto Protocol, as well as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Tropical peat swamps, boreal forests and arctic permafrost regions, as well as temperate bogs, are a true global heritage, occurring in more than 180 countries. Although they cover only 3 percent of the land area, they store nearly 30 per cent of all global soil carbon. They hold approximately as much carbon as is found in the atmosphere or as in the total of terrestrial biomass.

As such, peatlands currently present a significant unrealized opportunity for cost-effective measures in mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, time is running out. The continued burning, degradation, drainage and exploitation of peatlands all over the globe, and particularly in Southeast Asia due to forest fires, constitute a ‘time bomb’ of massive amounts of below-ground stored carbon ready to be released in the atmosphere. This will not only undo much of the mitigation effort already achieved, but also go against the principles and goals of global greenhouse gas emission reduction.

As well as being the most important long-term carbon store in the terrestrial biosphere, peatlands have broader significance. They provide water resources regulation and a wide range of other valuable goods and services to industrial as well as agricultural societies. Peatland ecosystems are diverse and unique, and often provide the last refuge for endangered species.