Global warming is having a dramatic impact on our ecosystems and our farms. Our future will depend on whether we will be successful in reducing CO2 emissions and sequestering carbon. Peatlands have a central role to play in this regard.
Although covering only three percent of the global land area, peatlands store more carbon than all forests on earth together. Therefore, there is little doubt that we need to protect our peatlands. This is precisely the objective our Peat Use Reduction Strategy pursues.
We want to reduce the use of peat in the commercial horticultural sector as far as possible by 2030. In the hobby sector, the aim is to eliminate all use of peat by 2026. We thus support the national peatland strategy aiming at the long-term phasing out of peat use in horticulture. The time schedule is in line with the provisions of the 2030 Climate Action Programme.