The goal of this project is to demonstrate the potential for peatland management and restoration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to mitigate climate change and increase landscape resilience to climate change as adaptation measures.
The restoration of peatland ecosystems is recognized as a significant contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation by the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and several other multilateral environmental agreements. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from drained peatlands reach one fifth of industrial emissions. Russia, by some estimates, ranks third in the world in GHG emissions from drained peatlands. It has been proven that rewetting of drained peatlands significantly reduces GHG emissions, and can help countries achieve their long-term goals under the Paris Agreement – their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
The Russian Federation outlined its long-term strategy for reducing GHG emissions based on taking into account all GHG sources and sinks, including those related to the LULUCF sector, which includes peatlands. Peatlands have already been included in the National Inventory of GHG Sources and Sinks. Rewetting of peatlands may become a significant contribution of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to the implementation of the National Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change, adopted by the Russian Government in December 2019. Incorporating peatland rewetting activities into sub-national adaptation plans will, in turn, stimulate the restoration of natural peatland ecosystems and their biodiversity.
The project includes the collection and analysis of available data on GHG emissions from peatlands and on the extent of peatlands rewetted for different purposes; the improvement of sub-national reporting on peatland drainage and rewetting to federal agencies responsible for climate change reporting, with testing proposed approaches in two pilot provinces; and the integration of project results into the ongoing process of developing the Russian NDC.
This project is part of the overarching GIZ program “Capacity Development for Climate Policy in the countries of South East, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia, Phase III”. This project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
