FAO report updates peatland emission factors; wildfire‑burned peat curbs methane after rewetting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released the Peat‑Emit report on 31 July 2026, offering updated emission factors for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from peatlands and organic soils. The report highlights that peatlands, covering only 3‑4 % of land but storing about 30 % of the world’s soil organic carbon, become major sources of greenhouse gases when drained, degraded or burned. By compiling 560 data points—about 45 % more than the 2013 IPCC Wetlands Supplement—the FAO improves the scientific basis for national GHG inventories, especially in developing countries and warm‑climate regions of Asia.

A separate study by researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark, published 29 July 2026 in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, examined how rewetting peat soils with different fire histories affects greenhouse‑gas emissions. Rewetting unburned peat increased methane emissions roughly 40‑fold, while mildly burned peat produced even higher methane. In contrast, severely burned peat showed methane emissions statistically indistinguishable from drained controls—a 91 % reduction compared with unburned rewetted peat—due to altered carbon chemistry and a sharp decline in the methane‑producing mcrA gene. The findings suggest that fire‑affected peatlands may offer a more climate‑friendly pathway for large‑scale restoration.