A new report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on July 31, 2026 provides a stronger scientific foundation for improving the accuracy, transparency and credibility of greenhouse gas (GHG) estimates from peatlands and organic soils, particularly in developing countries, where data on peatland emissions remain limited.
The report, Peat-Emit: Supporting Developing Economies to Estimate and Report Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Organic Soils, introduced updated emission factors and identified key data gaps and methodological improvements needed to better assess emissions from peatlands.
Emission factors estimate the amount of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide released per hectare of organic soil under different land-use and drainage conditions.
Improved emission factors, FAO noted, will enable countries to produce more reliable greenhouse gas inventories and strengthen climate mitigation efforts.
Although peatlands cover only 3-4 per cent of the Earth's land surface, they store around 30 per cent of the world's soil organic carbon — an estimated 450-650 gigatonnes and nearly twice as much carbon as the world's entire forest biomass.
However, when peatlands are drained, degraded or burnt, they become major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. Protecting and restoring peatlands is therefore considered a key strategy for reducing emissions and combating climate change.
The report was developed under the Peat-Emit project, implemented by FAO in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology through the Accelerating Innovative Monitoring for Forests (AIM4Forests) programme.
Researchers created a new database through a comprehensive review of scientific literature, working with the University of Leicester and an international steering committee representing expertise from five global regions with peatlands (Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and North America).
The Peat-Emit project compiled 560 emissions and removals data points from developing countries representing about 45 per cent more than the evidence available for the 2013 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Wetlands Supplement.
In warm-climate Asia, the evidence base has increased to around two-and-a-half times the 2013 level, allowing substantial updates to the region's default emission factors. Outside Southeast Asia, including Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the available evidence indicates similar trends.
In cool climate regions beyond Europe and North America, evidence remains scarce, although undrained organic soils are generally found to be carbon neutral or modest carbon sinks with relatively low nitrous oxide emissions where drainage and fertilisation are absent.
The findings confirmed that drained organic soils are major sources of carbon dioxide emissions, indicate that fertilised peatlands emit more nitrous oxide than previously estimated. The report also suggested that methane emissions from peat fires may be lower than earlier assumptions, and identified water table depth as a key factor controlling emissions.
Despite these advances, the report highlighted significant knowledge gaps. Data from developing economies remain heavily concentrated in Southeast Asia, while Africa, Latin America and other parts of Asia are underrepresented, particularly for managed and restored peatlands. Measurements of methane, nitrous oxide and peat fire emissions are also limited.
FAO emphasised that expanding field measurements, improving methodologies, strengthening data sharing and investing in long-term monitoring are essential for producing more accurate greenhouse gas inventories and supporting effective peatland conservation and climate mitigation strategies.