PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The European Union has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This includes reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% by 2040 and restoring 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. Peatlands, which are the world’s most carbon-rich ecosystems, are critical to meeting these goals. However, despite covering an estimated 350,000 km² across the EU, only 10% of peatlands remain in good condition. Drained peatlands emit up to 230 Mt CO₂-eq annually — around 7% of the EU's total GHG emissions and 25% of its agricultural emissions. Rewetting is recognised as a priority in the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and in the EU Nature Restoration Law, which sets binding targets for peatland restoration and rewetting.
However, current restoration efforts are far below the required scale. Major bottlenecks include limited technical expertise and organisational capacity, insufficient early-stage funding, over-reliance on public finance, underdeveloped nature markets and incomplete monitoring methodologies. In many Member States, a lack of projects ready for implementation means that available funds cannot be used effectively. The LIFE SUPER EU project (Scaling Up Peatland Restoration in Europe) has been designed to address these challenges by operating at local and European levels.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of LIFE SUPER EU is to significantly accelerate large-scale peatland restoration in Europe, contributing to EU climate neutrality and biodiversity targets through both direct restoration and capacity building.
The project addresses the urgent need to integrate peatland restoration into broader climate change mitigation strategies, biodiversity conservation policies and emerging nature-based carbon market frameworks.
Specific objectives are to:
- Restore (O.0): Implement restoration measures on 1,285 ha of degraded peatland in seven EU countries, avoiding an estimated 12,496 t CO₂-eq/year.
- Train (O.1): Strengthen technical expertise and organisational capacity for landscape-scale peatland restoration through targeted training, workshops, and networking.
- Source (O.2): Identify and prepare a pipeline of peatland restoration projects covering 14,600 ha in 15 countries, making them ready for funding from private or blended finance sources.
- Accelerate (O.3): Establish a Peatland Section of the Conservation Finance Accelerator (CFA) to support financing plans, match projects with investors, and de-risk early-stage investments.
- Support (O.4): Contribute to the refinement of the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) and support the implementation of relevant EU policies, including the Nature Restoration Law and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
- Knowledge(O.5): Close monitoring and data gaps by refining GHG emission factor catalogues (e.g. GEST), testing cost-effective monitoring approaches, and sharing results widely.
By addressing the five main bottlenecks — capacity, early-stage financing, dependency on public funding, the immature nature of markets, and knowledge gaps — LIFE SUPER EU should make a significant contribution to creating suitable conditions for large-scale, sustained peatland restoration across the EU.
RESULTS
LIFE SUPER EU will deliver both direct measurable environmental benefits and long-term catalytic impacts.
Restoration results:
- 1,285 ha of degraded peatland restored in seven countries, avoiding 12,496 t CO₂-eq/year.
- Representative restoration models across fen and bog types, agricultural and post-extraction sites, and varied ownership structures.
Upscaling results:
- 266,667 ha of potential restoration sites sourced; 14,600 ha included in a fundable project pipeline in 15 countries.
- Potential avoided emissions from pipeline sites: 73,000–146,000 t CO₂-eq/year.
- At least 10% of pipeline sites (1,500 ha) to begin restoration during the project using non-LIFE funding.
- Estimated €73 million mobilised from private and blended finance for future implementation.
Capacity and finance results:
- 96 targeted capacity-building events reaching 1,375 participants from 60 organisations.
- Five European Conservation Finance Boot Camps and ten “Dolphin Tank” investor engagement events.
- After-restoration business strategies for all LIFE SUPER EU sites.
Knowledge and policy results:
- Five Knowledge Reports supporting EU policy implementation.
- Improved GHG monitoring methods, expanded GEST catalogue, and reduced monitoring costs.
- Direct input to CRCF methodologies, biodiversity credit schemes, and voluntary carbon market standards.
- Informing policy development by offering practical insights into the implementation of the Nature Restoration Regulation and other relevant land use, land use change, and forestry legislation.
Through replication and knowledge transfer, LIFE SUPER EU will position peatland restoration as a mature, investment-ready nature-based solution for climate change mitigation across Europe.