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Greifswald brings Moore to the world stage: A breakthrough in climate protection!
Greifswald promotes international peatland protection: Dr. Tanneberger promotes sustainable climate action in Belém at COP30.
Greifswald brings Moore to the world stage: A breakthrough in climate protection!
The Brazilian city of Belém recently hosted the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), where a major breakthrough in peatland protection was achieved. Dr. Franziska Tanneberger, co-director of the Greifswald Moor Center (GMC) and winner of the German Environmental Prize 2024, passionately advocated for the “Peatland Breakthrough”. This was particularly clear on November 18, 2025, when Germany was officially recognized as a “Champion Country” for peatlands investments to promote the protection and sustainable use of peatlands worldwide. In her speeches during the conference, she emphasized the crucial role of peatlands in climate protection and called on other countries to join this effort.
Although peatlands only cover 3-4% of the Earth's surface, they provide up to a third of global soil carbon. Dr. Tanneberger and her colleagues at the GMC pointed out that drained and degraded peatlands are responsible for 4-5% of annual global CO2 emissions. Rewetting these areas could not only help reduce emissions, but also secure water supplies and biological diversity and stabilize livelihoods.
The Peatland Breakthrough and its goals
The Peatland Breakthrough is a central part of the Climate Convention's Action Agenda and aims to accelerate the protection, rewetting and sustainable use of peatlands. The new science-based framework, launched during COP30, aims to motivate countries to focus national climate plans more on protecting peatlands. To this end, Germany joined Peru and Uganda to define common goals and support the necessary measures.
On November 20, 2025, an exchange on nature-based climate protection measures took place in the German pavilion, hosted by Dr. Tanneberger organized. Another milestone was the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the GMC and the International Tropical Peatland Center (ITPC) on November 21, strengthening cooperation in peatland conservation. The GMC's expertise brought numerous contributions to topics such as soils, climate resilience and peatland restoration.
Collaboration and investment in the future
The urgency to act cannot be overlooked. Jochen Flasbarth, German State Secretary, pointed out that in Germany 95% of peatlands are drained, which contributes to 7.5% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Germany is therefore planning to invest billions in rewetting and is aiming to achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2045. The global rollout of the “Peatland Breakthrough” is scheduled for 2026 and is intended to encourage countries and organizations to join this initiative.
Details on the practical implementation of rewetting and the sale of CO2 certificates can also be found in the projects of Aeco, a company that focuses on the restoration of peatlands in Europe. Aeco takes care of the management of water levels and restoration measures, bringing together the interests of different stakeholders. The company, which was founded in Munich in 2023, plans to generate long-term income for owners through climate protection projects while at the same time offering companies access to high-quality CO2 certificates.
COP30 showed that it is time to preserve the treasures of the peatlands and actively promote their protection and restoration. Together, progress is possible that not only benefits climate protection, but also nature and our future.