What happened at COP27 for wetlands?

If you’re someone who keeps track of environmental news, you’ll likely have heard of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) that has been taking place in Egypt for the past two weeks.

If you’re someone who keeps track of environmental news, you’ll likely have heard of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) that has been taking place in Egypt for the past two weeks.

It is a chance for world leaders to come together to agree on action to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere that cause climate change, and establish how we can adapt to its impacts.

The top stories at COP27

COP27 kicked off with the World Leaders Summit, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator” and urged world leaders to “cooperate or perish”. Leaders of developing nations who are already feeling the devastating effects of climate change (but generally had a minimal contribution in causing it) were pushing for a ‘loss and damage fund’ from developed nations to help rebuild and rescue effected areas. In the final days of COP this fund was set up, which was considered a major step forward.

There were 30 ‘Adaptation Outcomes’ and a new action plan for populations with early warning systems for extreme weather events. We hope to see wetlands included in global action to adapt to the impacts of climate change, particularly flooding and drought. Wetlands can keep rivers flowing even in scarce water conditions and could help recharge the public water supply. They can also be used as a natural flood management method, where they act as sponges, protecting us from flood peaks and reducing the impact of flooding.

Despite a new report revealing a 50/50 chance that global temperature increase will breach the target of 1.5°C by 2030ⁱ, there was no commitment to phase out all fossil fuels in the final text (known as the ‘Cover Decision’) which is urgently needed to tackle climate change. However, the Cover Decision did see countries encouraged to consider nature-based solutions and eco-systems approaches to tackling climate change for the first time. There was also a recognition that action to tackle the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises should be addressed in a ‘comprehensive and synergetic manner’. WWT was happy to see the importance of protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems for climate action feature in the Cover Decision as well.

What was announced to help unlock the power of UK wetlands to combat climate change?

PM Rishi Sunak stated at COP that 'there is no solution to climate change without protecting and restoring nature’ and we agree. We see a crucial place for restoring saltmarsh as a way to fulfil the government’s commitment to net zero by 2050, while addressing Sunak’s priority to create ‘new jobs and clean growth’. Restoring saltmarshes can help tackle climate change by burying carbon. In saltmarshes the carbon in plants (that either grow on saltmarshes or get carried in from the tide) gets trapped under layers of muddy sediment that never decompose due to low oxygen conditions created by being covered in mud. WWT are calling for a minimum of 22,000 hectares of restored UK saltmarsh by 2050 as laid out in our new report ‘Wetlands for Carbon Storage’.

Therefore, we were pleased to see a a funding boost for nature on Biodiversity Day at COP. The Secretary of State for the Environment, Thérèse Coffey, set out £30 million ‘seed finance’ into The Big Nature Impact Fund, a new public-private fund for nature in the UK ‘which will unlock significant private investment into nature projects, such as tree planting or restoring peatlands’.

This could be a great opportunity for wetlands investment but we are yet to find out how this will be spent and crucially whether/ how wetlands will be involved. Vulnerable coastal habitats will see £12 million as part of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (we are keen to see how much of this will involve saltmarshes) and £6 million will be added to capacity building support for nature-based solutions under the Paris Agreement. We need to see more focus on wetlands in these schemes and this funding needs to be scaled up to fully address the problem we face.

Global Blue carbon (marine habitats, including saltmarshes, that store carbon) at COP27

There have been some important new initiatives announced on blue carbon at COP27, which help tackle climate change through restoring and protecting blue carbon habitats like saltmarshes and using other water management to tackle and adapt to climate change.

Here are some key announcements and initiatives

• International leaders came together in the UN Water and Climate Coalition to launch their Action Plan for Integrated Water and Climate Agenda. It highlights the need for better management of wetlands and other water storages to reduce climate-induced disaster risks, enhance climate change resilience/ security and reduce emissions through capturing carbon.
• We also saw a useful blue carbon framework to guide the development and purchasing of high-quality blue carbon projects and credits, with the High Quality Blue Carbon Principles and Guidance.
• An exciting new International Blue Carbon Institute will be set up in Singapore to accelerate blue carbon implementation and skills.
• Mangroves also hit the spotlight with the Mangrove Breakthrough joint initiative of the High-Level Climate Champions and the Global Mangrove Alliance which aims to drive public and private investment in mangrove restoration and protection.

COP27 has been named the ‘implementation summit’ so let’s see what these initiatives mean for delivery of real restored blue carbon ecosystems. WWT will be watching closely.

ⁱ 1.5°C has been the aim since the Paris Agreement, drafted in 2015. It was the first ever legally binding commitment to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions, with the goal to keep temperature rise below 2°C (above pre-industrial levels) and preferably limit the increase to 1.5 °C.

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