SMOKE ON WATER

Table 3. International agreements applying to peatlands

Requirements • Conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local, regional and national actions and international cooperation. • Establish and manage a network of protected sites. • Recognition of ecosystem services provided by peatlands and their role in sustainable development. Requirement to maintain, restore and wisely use. • Peatland ecosystems are to be restored and safeguarded for the provision of essential services and contribution to carbon stocks. The loss of their biodiversity is to be halted. • Adverse impacts related to the use of biological resources are to be avoided or minimized. Their conservation and sustainable use should be integrated into national decision-making. • Incentives, including subsidies, which are harmful to biodiversity are to be eliminated, phased out or reformed by 2020. • Protect and enhance carbon reservoirs and account for losses/gains from peatlands. • Make available national inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases. • Peatland conservation overlaps with the majority of Sustainable Development Goals, but those listed below are particularly pertinent: • SDG6: Ensure availability and sustainablemanagement of water and sanitation for all • SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns • SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts • SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. • States to place a moratorium on peat exploitation until their legislation is strengthened to ensure peatlands are protected or managed through wise use principles. • States to give appropriate consideration to the importance of the preservation of peatlands when implementing activities to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. • Recognizes that wild fauna and flora are an irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the earth and must be protected.

Detailed plans • Strategic Plan 2016–2024 • Global Action Plan for Peatlands

Agreements Ramsar Convention

• Strategic Plan for 2011– 2020 and the Aichi Targets

UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• Kyoto Protocol, REDD+, LULUCF, etc. • Paris Climate Change Agreement

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

• Sustainable Development Goals

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• Motion 046: Securing the future of global peatlands

IUCN World Conservation Congress, 2016

• CITES Strategic Vision 2008–2020

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

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