Peatlands are small in area but outsized in carbon significance. Examine the drivers of peatland degradation in Southeast Asia and its implications for global climate goals.

Peatlands are waterlogged wetlands where partly decayed organic matter builds up. They cover only about 3% of Earth's land but store about one-third of all soil carbon [1]. Southeast Asia holds over half the world's tropical peat, so its degradation matters for the whole world.

Drivers of Peatland Degradation

• Drainage for plantations: Peat drained for agriculture and plantations becomes highly inflammable, and slash-and-burn remains the cheapest way to clear land [2].
• Deforestation sets the baseline risk: Most burning happens on deforested land and degraded peat. The 2013 Sumatran haze happened with no El Niño or IOD, which shows that land use alone can cause a crisis [3].
• Climate amplifiers: Indonesia's met agency (BMKG) linked the low rainfall in 2026 to a very strong El Niño and a positive IOD. More than 1.9 million ha burned between January and September [2].
• Governance contradictions: Indonesia's public works agency drains peat in the same areas where the restoration agency BRGM blocks canals to re-wet it [6]. About 1.3 million ha has been restored so far [7], less than the area burned in 2026 alone.
• Weak regional enforcement: Haze keeps recurring despite the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (signed 2002, in force 2003) [4].

Implications for Global Climate Goals

• Carbon release: Indonesia's peat holds about 57 Gt of carbon. Drained and burning peat produces up to 5% of human-caused carbon emissions [1].
• Climate feedback loop: Warming brings harsher droughts, which bring more fires and more emissions. Major haze events are expected to become more frequent as deforestation continues [3].
• Paris and NDC targets at risk: Fire emissions from land can cancel out a country's mitigation gains. The World Bank named carbon loss as the single biggest cost of the 2015 fires, which cost Indonesia US$16.1 billion in total [5].
• Health and SDG losses: More than 60% of regional haze particles come from peat fires [4]. CREA estimated 5,310 deaths in September 2026 alone [2], which sets back SDG 3 and SDG 13.

Peatland loss has human causes, climate makes it worse, and the effects are felt worldwide. The way forward has four parts. First, re-wet the peat under a single authority so drainage and restoration stop working against each other. Second, use peat groundwater levels as an early-warning sign of drought [3]. Third, strengthen enforcement under the ASEAN agreement. Fourth, scale up the UNEP Global Peatlands Initiative [1]. Keeping peat wet is one of the cheapest ways to protect the carbon sinks that SDG 13 and SDG 15 depend on.