Economics of Peatlands, Private Sector Engagement
UNEP's GPI identifies innovative financial mechanisms to boost peatland investment through blended finance.
The leading causes of peatland mismanagement are undervaluation and underinvestment. Certain commercial activities and policies degrade peatlands and encourage drainage through perverse incentives. Existing public and private funding for peatlands falls far short of what is required to save these valuable ecosystems. To address this, there is a pressing need to increase blended finance using innovative financial mechanisms.
The “Economics of Peatlands Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Management” policy report, authored by Edward Barbier and Joanne Burgess of Colorado State University, was launched as part of the Global Peatlands Initiative’s contribution to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The report finds that the principal cause for peatlands mismanagement is the undervaluation of their economic contributions. Commercial activities and policies that degrade and convert these high-carbon ecosystems often ignore or fail to take account of their benefits to society. Global peatland conservation and restoration suffer from chronic underinvestment.
The Investing in Peatlands report highlights the immense benefits of strategically investing in peatland conservation and restoration for climate, biodiversity, local communities, and investors. Developed by experts from 15 organisations, including the Global Peatlands Initiative, the publication emphasises the importance of a landscape approach to attract private sector investment and scale up efforts through blended finance. This report serves as an essential resource for investors and landscape developers aiming to drive transformative impact through peatland restoration.
The Financing European Peatlands: A Roadmap Towards an Institutional Asset Class report, developed by the Landscape Finance Lab with support from the Global Peatlands Initiative and the European Investment Bank and funded by the EU Horizon WaterLANDS project, charts a practical path for scaling peatland restoration finance in Europe into an investible, infrastructure-like asset class. Drawing on a dataset of more than 400 European peatland projects, it finds that 1.1 million hectares are feasibly restorable over the next decade across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Scandinavia, delivering over 300 MtCO₂e in emissions reductions alongside water, biodiversity and productive land use benefits. The report sets out roadmaps for standards setters, corporate buyers, public agencies, project developers and investors, and serves as a key resource for institutions working to unlock private capital for peatland restoration at scale.
