Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 1

Fact book
for UNFCCC policies
on peat carbon emissions
2 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 3
Factbook for
UNFCCC policies
on peat carbon
emissions
Authors:
Alex Kaat, Wetlands International
Hans Joosten, Greifswald University
Wetlands International
December 2009
4 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Contents
1. Introduction 5
2. Global overview of peatland areas 6
3. Global overview of peat-carbon stocks 8
4. Global overview of peat-carbon emissions 10
5. Causes behind peatland emissions 12
6. Measurability of peat-carbon stocks and emissions 13
7. Carbon sequestration in peatlands 15
8. Permanence of carbon storage in peat 16
9. Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emissions 17
10. Expected development of peat-CO2 emissions 19
11. Peatland restoration 21

Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 5
Peatlands are wetlands with a peat layer (soil).
Their huge carbon stock is attributable to the
thick layers of peat (up to 25 meters) that are
conserved by the wetness of the substrate. This
peat largely consists of organic material with a
carbon content of over 50%.
All over the world, precious peatland
ecosystems, with a unique nature and beauty
are degraded and destroyed. Peatswamp
forests in Indonesia are drained and logged;
tundra peatlands are affected by global
warming and mountain peatlands like in
the Himalayas are subject to overgrazing
and mining. Contrary to forests, few people
recognize or are even aware of these areas.
Even less people know that these areas, that
cover only 3% of the land surface of the Earth,
contain twice as much carbon as all the worlds
forest biomass. Carbon that under normal
conditions would remain stored for infinite times
and eventually would turn into coal, is now
released at an alarming rate, causing around
6% of all global carbon dioxide emissions.
These emissions remain largely unreported.
And where reported, they are excluded from the
national emission accounts. As a result there
are so far no incentives to protect and restore
peatlands; a disaster for climate, biodiversity
and people.
Wetlands International is dedicated to spread
this message about this disaster and advocates
that UNFCCC will provide incentives to address
the loss of the worlds peatlands. As peatlands
are unique ecosystems, addressing the
emissions generates unique questions. This
publication is meant to provide answers on the
emissions from peatlands and formulates some
policy approaches to addressing these issues.
The publication is produced jointly by
Wetlands International and by the University of
Greifswald.
1 Introduction
6 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
2 Global overview of peatland areas
Continents Total area
in 10
6

km
2
Continent
in % of
global
land area
Peatlands
in km
2
Peatland
area in %
of area in
continent
% of global
peatland
area
Africa 30.37 20.3 130,126 0.4 3.4
Antarctica and the Subantarctic Isles 13.71 9.2 15,871 0.1 0.4
Asia 43.81 29.3 1,545,709 3.5 40.5
Australasia (Oceania) 9.01 6 72,845 0.8 1.9
Europe 10.4 7 504,608 4.9 13.2
Americas 42.33 28.2 1,544,394 3.6 40.5
Total 149.64 100 3,813,553 2.5 100
Peatlands are found in 175 countries of the
world, but are especially abundant in cold (i.e.
boreal and sub-arctic) and wet (i.e. oceanic and
humid tropical) regions.
Table 1. Distribution of peatlands over the continents in 2008 (source: The Global Peatland CO
2
Picture,
Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 2009)
Figure 1. Peatland cover per
country (source: Wetlands
International and Greifswald
University, 2009. The Global
Peatland CO
2
Picture)
peatland cover in %
0
0.0 - 0.4
0.4 - 2.0
2.0 - 4.0
4.0 - 8.0
> 8.0
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 7
Table 1. Distribution of peatlands over the continents in 2008 (source: The Global Peatland CO
2
Picture,
Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 2009)
Table 2. Top-20 for peatland area (source:
The Global Peatland CO
2
Picture, Wetlands
International and Greifswald University, 2009).
Country/region Peatland
area (km
2
)
1 Russia Asian part 1,176,280
2 Canada 1,133,926
3 Indonesia 265,500
4 Russia European part 199,410
5 USA (Alaska) 131,990
6 USA (lower 48) 91,819
7 Finland 79,429
8 Sweden 65,623
9 Papua New Guinea 59,922
10 Brazil 54,730
11 Peru 49,991
12 China 33,499
13 Sudan 29,910
14 Norway 29,685
15 Malaysia 26,685
16 Mongolia 26,291
17 Belarus 22,352
18 United Kingdom 17,113
19 Germany 16,668
20 Congo 15,999
Global total 3,813,553
The regions with the largest peatland areas
and peat carbon stocks include northern
countries like Russia, Canada, USA (Alaska!),
Finland, Sweden, Norway, and their southern
antipodes (Falklands/Malvinas, Chile), next to
tropical countries (Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, Papua
New Guinea, Malaysia, Dem. Rep. of Congo,
Uganda). Other notable occurrences are in
countries in the temperate zone, incl. Belarus,
United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, and Ireland.

8 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
3 Global overview of peat-carbon stocks
Peatlands have carbon stocks that greatly
exceed those of other terrestrial ecosystems.
Even the Giant Conifer Forest in the Pacific West
of North America with the highest trees in the
World reaches per ha only half of the carbon
stock that peatlands hold in average.
Peatlands constitute the largest and most
concentrated reservoir of carbon (c) of all
terrestrial ecosystems, storing worldwide
an estimated 550 Gt (1 Gt = 1 Gigatonne or
109 metric tonnes) of c in their peat. This is
equivalent to 75% of all atmospheric c, equal
to all terrestrial biomass, and twice the carbon
stock in the forest biomass of the world (parish
et al. 2008). Of this 452 Gt carbon, almost two
thirds is stored in canada (155 Gt) and russia
(138 Gt).
Active peat mining in Belarus (source: Marcel Silvius, 2009)
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 9
For more information contact
Marie-Jos Vervest
([email protected])
Table 3. Top-20 for peat-carbon stock (source: The
Global Peatland CO
2
Picture, Wetlands International
and Greifswald University, 2009)
Country Peat
carbon
stock 2008
(Mton C)
1 Canada 154,9
2 Russia Asian part 117,6
3 Indonesia 54,0
4 Russia European part 19,9
5 USA (Alaska) 15,4
6 USA (lower 48) 13,6
7 Papua New Guinea 5,9
8 Brazil 5,4
9 Malaysia 5,4
10 Finland 5,2
11 Sweden 5,0
12 China 3,2
13 Norway 2,2
14 Germany 2,0
15 Venezuela 1,9
16 Sudan 1,9
17 United Kingdom 1,7
18 Congo 1,6
19 Mexico 1,4
20 Uganda 1,3
Global total 445,691
Although for most countries indicative data
on peatlands are available, exact figures on
peatland stocks are still hard to give. The
available information is certainly much less than
that for forest carbon stocks. This is a direct
result of the lack of attention for these carbon
stocks so far. It is also a result of the fact that
remote sensing techniques to determine peat
depth over large areas are not well developed
and laborious field work is still necessary.
10 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
When peatlands are drained, the peat is no
longer conserved. It decomposes, which leads
to vigorous releases of carbon dioxide. It is
estimated that the total carbon emissions from
degraded peatlands currently amount to almost
half of the worldwide emissions from Land Use,
Land Use Changes and Forestry (LULUCF) and
to 5% of the total global anthropogenic carbon
emissions.
The global CO
2
emissions from drained
peatlands have strongly increased since 1990.
Leaving aside emissions from peat extraction
and fires, global CO
2
emissions from drained
peatland have increased from 1,058 Mton in
1990 to 1,298 Mton in 2008. This 240 Mton
increase is equivalent to > 20% of the 1990
emissions. Since 1990 peatland emissions
have increased in 45 countries, of which 40
developing countries. A more than 50% increase
in emissions was found for: Papua New Guinea,
Malaysia, Burundi, Indonesia, Kenya, Gabon,
Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican
Republic, Colombia, Rwanda, Brunei,
4 Global overview of peat-carbon emissions
Figure 3. Carbon emissions in 2008.
(Sources: peat (Wetlands International and
Greifswald University, 2009. The Global
Peatland CO
2
Picture); forest (van der Werf,
G.R., et al, 2009. CO2 emissions from forest
loss); fossil fuels (EDGAR database, JRC/PBL,
2009).
Figure 4. Global hotspots of peat carbon emissions (source: Hooijer, A. unpubl.)
8.6
1.2
0.5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 Pg=Gt
Peat: 5%
Forest: 12%
Fossil fuels: 83%
8.6
1.22
0.49
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 Pg=Gt
Peat: 5%
Forest: 12%
Fossil fuels: 83%
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 11
Ethiopia, and Guatemala. These top-growers
include with Indonesia, China, Malaysia and
Papua New Guinea some of the top peat
emitters in the World.
As a result of geo-political and economic
changes, peatland drainage has largely
stopped in many annex 1 countries since 1990.
Emissions from already drained peatlands,
however, continue to be large. Annex 1 countries
are responsible for about 0,5 Gton of CO
2

emissions. The EU is with 174 Mton the second
largest emitter after Indonesia (500 Mton) and
before Russia (161 Mton).
Overall, Annex 1 peat emissions seem to
have decreased from 655Mton in 1990 to
492 Mton in 2008; i.e. a decrease of ~25% of
emissions compared to 1990. Part of these
reductions, however, only emerge because
peatlands abandoned since 1990 have wrongly
disappeared from the reporting, especially in
Eastern Europe. Peat extraction activities of
the Worlds largest peat extractor (Russia and
other Former soviet states) have substantially
decreased (but currently show again an upward
trend).
Table 4. Top-25 for drainage related carbon dioxide
emissions from peat degradation for 2008 (res
excluded!) (source: The Global Peatland CO
2
Picture,
Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 2009)
Country/area Emissions from
degrading peat
2008 (Mton
CO
2
/a)
1 Indonesia 500
2 Russia European part 139
3 China 77
4 USA (lower 48) 67
5 Finland 50
6 Malaysia 48
7 Mongolia 45
8 Belarus 41
9 Germany 32
10 Poland 24
11 Russia Asian part 22
12 Uganda 20
13 Papua New Guinea 20
14 Iceland 18
15 Sweden 15
16 Brazil 12
17 United Kingdom 10
18 Estonia 10
19 Ireland 8
20 Lithuania 6
21 Netherlands 6
22 Norway 6
23 Vietnam 5
24 Ukraine 5
25 Zambia 5
Global total 1,298
12 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Emissions from the non-annex 1 countries of
southeast Asia increased considerably since
1990 due to large scale logging of peatswamp
forests and drainage for plantations.
The largest hotspot of peatland carbon
emissions with some 600 Mton carbon dioxide
emissions per year is southeast Asia. The
total emissions of 1.3 Gton do not include the
considerable source of emissions caused by
peat fires, regularly occurring in south-east Asia.
These differ enormously from year to year as
a result of differences in rainfall and changes
in land management. Estimates for peatland
fire emissions from southeast Asia vary from
approximately 400 Mt/CO
2
-eq/yr (Van der Werf
et al. 2008) to 1400 mt (Hooijer et al. 2006) of
carbon dioxide per year. In this booklet we follow
the conservative value. Other hotspots, with
in total also around 1000 mton carbon dioxide
emissions per year together, are central europe,
northeast China, Florida and the US midwest
with adjacent Canada.
Annex 1 countries are responsible for emissions
of around 900 mton a year.
5 Causes behind peatland emissions
Emissions
drainage
for
agriculture
Emissions
drainage
for forestry
Emissions
drainage
for peat
extraction
Emissions
drainage
for other
purposes
Emissions
non-
forested
peatland
Total
degrading
peatland
area 2008
Emissions
peat
extracted
in 2008
Total
emissions
degrading
peat 2008
Mton
CO
2
/a km
2
Mton
CO
2
/a
Mton
CO
2
/a
Mton
CO
2
/a km
2
not
included
Mton
CO
2
/a
1,086 129 21 16 1,106 426,381 1,298
Table 5. Global emissions drained peatlands. (source: The Global Peatland CO
2
Picture,
Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 2009)
Cause CO
2
emissions Total CO
2
emissions
Unit Ton CO
2
ha-1 a-1 Mton a-1
Drained peatlands in SE Asia 50 568
Drained peatlands outside SE Asia 25 730
Peat res in SE Asia 400
Total * 1,698
* excluding emissions from peatland res outside SE Asia and from peat extraction
Table 6. Drainage related emissions SE Asia vs other areas (source: The Global Peatland
CO
2
Picture, Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 2009)
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 13
The current global peatland carbon stock is
around 450 Gtons. Peatlands cover an area of
400 million ha. Of this area about 65 million ha is
drained, leading to a total annual CO
2
emission of
2 Gton CO
2
(see table 5). Pristine peatlands gen-
erally sequester net CO
2
.
Peat carbon sequestration is a matter of a deli-
cate imbalance of production and decay and only
a small proportion of the peatland biomass enters
the permanently waterlogged zone and becomes
peat. The delicate balance causes peatlands to
easily become carbon emission sources following
human interventions, especially drainage. Lower-
ing of the water table in peatlands stimulates de-
composition. The oxygen allows aerobic decom-
position to take place, which is fty times faster
than anaerobic decomposition. CO
2
emissions
from drained peatlands generally increase with
increasing drainage depth and warmer climates.
For most countries of the world, only indicative
data on peatland area and peat carbon stocks ex-
ist. With good soil maps and default values about
carbon content and average depths, reliable esti-
mates can be made. More advanced stock inven-
tory is except for some countries not available.
Any policy demanding a credible determination of
stocks is therefore costly and time consuming. In
fact, eld research is necessary to measure the
depth of the peat layer. To improve the database
the following steps are required:
Adopt global standard defnitions or peat
and peatland. At present the defnitions vary
strongly between countries, with time, and
even between peatland types and drainage
level. In canada, for example, the thickness cri-
terion is 24 inches (60 cm) for bric sphagnum
peats and 16 inches (40 cm) for other types of
peats. In Germany, in former times peatlands
only had to have 20 cm of peat, whereas cur-
rently a minimum thickness of 30 cm is re-
quired.
Adopt global standards for peatland mapping.
Current inventories consider peatlands of vari-
ous minimum extent, e.g. larger than 3, 10, or
100 ha. the Fao/ UNesco soil map of the World
(sm W; 1: 5,000,000, 1974 - 1981) from which
most peatland areal data in tropical countries
are derived, only uses associations of soil
types, from which the peatland occurrences are
not sharply deducible.
Use remote sensing techniques to assess the
regional presence of peatlands and eld map-
ping to assess the thickness and type of peat.
Recognize the variety of peatlands. Often
overlooked peatlands include mangroves, salt
marshes, paludied forests, cloud forests and
eln woodlands, paramos, dambos (and their
equivalents in other languages like bas-fonds,
marigots, inland valleys, bolis, fadama,
vleis, bani, mapani, mbugas, ), and
cryosols.
Assessment of emissions
The Bali Action Plan calls for climate mitigation
actions that are measurable, reportable and
verifiable (MRV). The development of proxies
for easy assessing peatland emissions is
rapidly progressing. As emissions are largely
determined by water levels and prevailing
vegetation, the use of vegetation, water level
(also via remote sensing) and subsidence as
indicators of area-wide peatland emissions is
very promising. Sufficient information is already
present for the boreal zone and temperate
europe, similar approaches for se asia are being
developed. These will enable contracting parties
to provide reliable and verifiable figures on their
national peatland emissions and therefore allows
inclusion of peatland conservation and rewetting
in a post-2012 climate framework.
Whereas adequate techniques exist to measure
greenhouse gas fluxes in detail (chamber
method, eddy-covariance), these methods are
too labour intensive and expensive to assess
and monitor emissions over many and large
areas.
6 Measurability of peat-carbon stocks
and emissions
Cause CO
2
emissions Total CO
2
emissions
Unit Ton CO
2
ha-1 a-1 Mton a-1
Drained peatlands in SE Asia 50 568
Drained peatlands outside SE Asia 25 730
Peat res in SE Asia 400
Total * 1,698
* excluding emissions from peatland res outside SE Asia and from peat extraction
14 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Voluntary Carbon Standard
The VCS Association has developed guidance
for Peat Rewetting and Conservation (PRC)
projects and for other AFOLU projects located
on peatlands.
Activities that verifiably and permanently reduce
net GHG emissions from peatland or increase
peat carbon stocks would be eligible under the
VCS as PRC projects, or as AFOLU projects on
peatland. Activities that may reduce net GHG
emissions but actively lower the water level
would not be eligible.
Four broad categories of activities are
considered:
1. Rewetting (or reducing drainage depth) of
drained peatland
2. Conservation of undrained non-forested
peatland
3. AFOLU activities carried out on peatland
4. Avoided peat mining
The PRC guidelines are currently under peer
review from a pool of scientific/technical
peat experts, peatland project developers,
and AFOLU validators/verifiers, with the
goal of ensuring that the PRC guidelines are
scientifically sound, workable in practice, and
provide clear guidelines for validators.
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 15
7 Carbon sequestration in peatlands
In all terrestrial ecosystems, plants convert
atmospheric CO
2
into plant biomass that after
death rapidly decays under the influence of
oxygen. In peatlands, part of the dead plant
material soon arrives in a permanently water
logged, oxygen poor environment, where the
rate of decay is extremely low. Approximately
515% of the produced peatland biomass
is sequestered in this way and (under
natural conditions) for ever conserved. Peat
accumulation rates are dependent on climatic,
hydrologic, and hydrochemical conditions. In
general, accumulation increases from nutrient
rich to nutrient poor, from polar to equatorial,
and from continental to oceanic conditions.
the rate of carbon accumulation (lorca) is
generally in the order of magnitude of 0,10,4
ton c ha-2 yr-1 in the subarctic, boreal and
temperate zone, and may reach 12 ton c ha-2
yr-1 in temperate and tropical swamp forest
peatlands.
The total present-day rate of C
sequestration in the pristine peatlands of
the World is less than 100 Mtons C y-1.
If all the worlds peatlands would be restored by
ending drainage, this amount would increase
with 10 20 %. The most important effect of
rewetting degraded peatlands is, however, not
the re-installment of carbon sequestration, but
the avoidance of carbon emissions from peat
oxidation.
(source: Argentina 2006, Hans Joosten)
16 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Without exploitation the peat carbon would
remain in the peatland store virtually forever.
part is on the long run remobilized by tectonic
processes and severe climate change (Ice ages!),
another part changes into lignite and later coal.
the latter is illustrated by the oldest peat being
10 million years old, whereas the youngest lignite
and coal are only 100,000 years and 20 million
years old, respectively.
Here lies also the fundamental difference between
biomass fuels and fossil fuels (like peat and
coal). by burning biomass fuels (like wood and
straw), organic material is oxidized that anyhow
would have been oxidized by decay after the
plants death. In case of biomass combustion,
humans consume the energy, whereas in case
of natural decay microbes consume the energy
provided by oxidation. In both cases the same
amount of CO
2
ends up in the atmosphere, only
the pathways are different.
Fossil fuels, on the contrary, would without
exploitation remain in the long-term store and
nt end up in the atmosphere as CO
2
. By peat
combustion and oxidation, carbon is oxidized
that otherwise would have remained stored for
thousands and thousands of years. This applies
whether the peat is 10 or 1,000 or 100,000 years
old. Not the age determines whether something
is fossil or biomass, but the natural destiny of
the material. Similar to coal, lignite (browncoal) or
oil, the natural destiny of peat carbon is to remain
stored.
The permanence of the peat carbon store is
clearly illustrated in natural coalication (see gure
6). Whereas in the initial process of peat formation
85-90% of the original biomass carbon stock is
lost, most of the residual carbon remains during
the further coalication process that changes peat
over millions of years into lignite, coal and
eventually anthracite.
8 Permanence of carbon storage in peat
Figure 5. The difference between biomass and fossil: growing plants
sequester CO
2
in their bio-mass (left downward arrow). Dead biomass rapidly
decomposes and returns as CO
2
into the atmosphere (right upward arrow).
In case of peat formation, a part of the biomass is, however, conserved by
waterlogging and remains in the peat carbon store infinitely (curved arrow). Over
time it may change into lignite and coal.
Figure 6. Carbon
remaining during
the fossilization of
biomass (modified
after Dukes 2003).
CO
2
CO
2
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 17
9 Methane (CH
4
) and Nitrous Oxide (N
2
O)
emissions
Figure 7: Hourly methane
emissions from tropical
peatswamp soil in relation
to water level. (source:
Couwenberg et al.
submitted).
Figure 8: Hourly
methane emissions
from () boreal and ()
temperate sites. Note the
fivefold difference in scale.
(source: Couwenberg et
al. submitted)
Next to sequestering net CO
2
, peatlands may also
emit methane (CH4) and N
2
O.
A post-2012 framework aiming at peatland re-
wetting must therefore also address associated
methane emissions.
The scientific database for methane emissions
is much larger than that for CO
2
or N
2
O and re-
cently several high quality reviews on the subject
have been published (Couwenberg et al. 2009,
Lay 2009, Saarnio et al. 2009).
The overall balance is that peatland restoration
reduces the emissions of greenhouse gasses into
the atmosphere.
The annual mean water level is a surprisingly
good indicator for methane emissions, but at
high water levels the cover of aerenchymous
shunts (gas conductive plant tissue) becomes a
better proxy. Ideally, both water level and cover
of aerenchymous shunts should be assessed to
arrive at robust estimates for methane emissions
(Wetlands International, Couwenberg, J. Greif-
swald University, August 2009)
18 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
The overall balance is that peatland restoration
reduces the emissions of greenhouse gasses into
the atmosphere.
The emission of CH4 strongly depends on the
water level, is virtually zero at water levels lower
than 20 cm below surface, but rises rapidly with
higher water levels. CH4 emissions from pristine
tropical peatlands seem to be 3 times lower
than those from temperate peatlands.
N
2
O emissions in the temperate zone are
restricted to mean water levels below -20cm,
with emissions negligible in case of pristine
peatlands. In the tropics trends seem similarly
erratic but without clear correlations with
site parameters. An important factor for N
2
O
emissions is land use: fertilized peatlands emit
part (in the temperate zone 2 9 %) of the
applied fertilizer N as N
2
O.
In case of peatland drainage, CH4 emissions
decrease and CO
2
and N
2
O emissions from
the peat increase. As the latter dominate, the
combined effect leads to (often much) larger
climate relevant emissions.
In case of peatland rewetting, the opposite
occurs: CO
2
and N
2
O emissions strongly
decrease. CH4 emissions increase, but are
generally of much less importance. Only in
exceptional cases (flooding of crops), CH4
emissions after rewetting may increase to
such an extent, that the effect of CO
2
and N
2
O
emission reduction is annihilated. This effect is,
however, only of short duration, and on the mid-
and long-term, rewetting of peatlands always
leads to a net reduction of climate relevant
emissions.
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 19
10 Expected development of
peat-CO
2
emissions
Figure 9. Historical, current and projected CO
2
emissions from peatlands in Southeast
Asia, as a result of drainage (fires excluded) (source: Hooijer, A. in press)
In recent times large changes have taken place
with respect to peatland use and degradation.
as a result of geo-political and economic
changes, expansion of peatland drainage has
largely stopped since 1990 in the annex 1
countries, whereas also the activities of the
Worlds largest peat extractor (russia and other
Former soviet states) have largely collapsed.
Although the overall emissions from peatland
drainage in Annex 1 have decreased with ~25%,
emissions from already drained peatland are
nevertheless very significant. The activities of the
Worlds largest peat extractor (Russia and other
Former Soviet States) have largely collapsed,
although currently showing an upward trend
again. In the tropics, however, peatland drainage
has in the same time massively increased. Very
recently, a renewed attention to using peat
for energy and peatlands for crop production
can be observed in all parts of the world as
a result of the demand for energy, land and
food. predicting future land use developments
by projecting past trends is under these
circumstances a crude simplification of actual
developments. the increase in emissions in
southeast asia (fig. 9) is caused by progressive
deforestation and drainage of peatlands. the
projected decrease after 2020 (likely scenario)
is caused by shallower peat deposits being
depleted. the stepwise pattern of this decrease
is an artefact caused by using discrete peat
thickness classes (0.25m, 0.75m, 1.5m, 3m,
6m, 10m). this trend is, however, only dealing
with southeast asian peatlands. For the
vast boreal peatlands in russia, scandinavia
and canada, the expectations are different.
the current, direct threat is less, but the
maintenance of these huge carbon stocks is by
no means secured.
The technical potential exists to drain and
exploit up to 90% of the Worlds peatland
area and peat stock, which would lead to an
emission of 1,800 Gtonnes of CO
2
: an amount
equal to 60 times the global annual CO
2

emissions! the annual emission will strongly
depend on how the peatlands will be used.
20 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Concrete (economic) use will strongly depend
on:
Local fuel availability, with countries with less
other local resources faster changing to peat
as a fuel.
The general scarcity of fuels and clean
fuels in particular. The development of the
modern peat fuel industry in sweden and
Finland, for example, is directly attributable
to the oil crisis of the 1970s. Currently
renewed expansion of peat fuel can be
observed in Finland and sweden, Indonesia
(local fuels), russia (local fuels to save oil
and gas for export), whereas new plans for
extracting peat fuel arise as an alternative
for more dirty (sulphur!) local coal or nuclear
power (e.g. ontario).
Inclusion of peat carbon stocks in
GHG accounting and the associated
attractiveness of peat soils for biofuel crop
(incl. wood) cultivation. Currently the use of
drained peatland soils for biofuel production
is observed all over the world, even though
in most cases those biofuels lead to 3 9
times more CO
2
emissions per energy unit
produced than burning coal
Climate change, leading to other land use
options for peatlands. Currently arable
peatland agriculture is largely restricted to
the temperate to tropical zone and largely
absent from the boreal to arctic zones. With
(substantial) climate change the vast boreal
zone will become more suitable for arable
agriculture and more profitable for forestry. In
the North, the melting of permafrost may lead
to both a increase in carbon sequestration
rate through higher plant productivity and to
an increased emission of methane (through
more humid conditions). Human activities (oil/
gas exploration and exploitation) may lead to
an acceleration of permafrost degradation.
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 21
11 Peatland restoration
Peatland restoration
A key aspect of efforts to manage and restore
peatlands is to re-establish the hydrology,
as keeping peat soils wet stops them from
decomposing further, thereby avoiding
enormous CO
2
emissions. Peatlands can be
rewetted by blocking drainage canals and
erosion gullies. A second major element is
to restore the vegetation cover. A layer of
vegetation is crucial for keeping the peatsoil
wet and preventing further degradation. In
some cases, rewetting sets the conditions for
revegetation. In other cases, nature needs to be
helped by replanting.

Blocking of canals in Sebangau National Park, Borneo. (source: Marcel Silvius, 2008)
22 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
References
Couwenberg, J., Augustin, J., Michaelis, D. &
Joosten, H. 2008. Emission reductions from
rewetting of peatlands. Towards a field guide for
the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions
from Central European peatlands. Duene
Greifswald / RSPB Sandy. 28 pp.
Couwenberg, J., Dommain, R. & Joosten, H.
2009. Greenhouse gas fluxes from tropical
peatswamps in Southeast Asia. Submitted to
Global Change Biology.
Couwenberg, J., Greifswald University, Wetlands
International. 2009. Are emission reductions
from peatlands MRV-able?
Couwenberg, J., Greifswald University, Wetlands
International. 2009. Methane emissions from
peat soils (organic soils, histosols). Facts, MRV-
ability, emission factors.
Dukes, J.S. 2003. Burning buried sunshine:
human consumption of ancient solar energy.
Climatic Change 61: 3144.
Hooijer, A., Silvius, M., Wsten, H. & Page, S.
2006. Peat-CO
2
Assessment of CO
2
emissions
from drained peatlands in SE Asia. Delft
Hydraulics Report Q3943. 36 pp.
IMCG Global Peatland Database: www.IMCG.
net/gpd/gpd.htm
Joosten, H., Greifswald University, Wetlands
International. 2009. The Global Peatland CO
2

Picture.
Parish, F., Sirin, A., Charman, D., Joosten,
H., Minaeva, T. & Silvius, M. (eds) 2008.
Assessment on peatlands, biodiversity and
climate change. Global Environment Centre,
Kuala Lumpur and Wetlands International
Wageningen, 179 p
Pena, N., Joanneum Institute. 2008. Inclusion of
Peatlands in Post 2012 Climate Agreements
Van der Werf, G.R., Dempewolf, J., Trigg,
S.N., Randerson, J.T., Kasibhatla, P.S., Giglio,
L., Murdiyarso, D., Peters, W., Morton, D.C.,
Collatz, G.J., Dolman, A.J. & DeFries, R.S.
2008. Climate regulation of fire emissions and
deforestation in equatorial Asia. PNAS 105:
2035020355.
Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS 23
24 Wetlands International FACTBOOK FOR UNFCCC POLICIES ON PEAT CARBON EMISSIONS
Mission:
To sustain and
re store wetlands,
their resources
and bio diversity for
future generations.
Peatland degradation
fuels climate change
3% of the world surface is covered with peatswamps.
450Gt of carbon is stored in peatlands, this is almost as
much carbon as all accessible fossil coal reserves (585 Gt),
twice as much as all global forest biomass, and 75%
of allatmospheric carbon.
2 Gt CO
2
is emitted every year due to rapid peatland
loss.
Nothing is done under current climate policies to stop
these emissions.
Wetlands International calls for UN-FCCC policies that
provide incentives to reduce carbon emissions from peatland
loss.
Wetlands International
PO Box 471
6700 AL Wageningen
The Netherlands
Contact for UNFCCC policy issues:
+31 (0)6 5060 1917
Phone: +31 (0)318-660910
Fax: +31 (0)0318-660950
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.wetlands.org
SCS-COC-00652-EH