On June 5^th we mark World Environment Day with the UN Environment Programme, echoing their words. 

The planet doesn’t argue. It doesn’t negotiate. It sends signals—rising seas, raging wildfires, heatwaves, melting glaciers. 

We said 1.5°C was the limit. We are crossing it. 

For decades, the world has heard the climate story—warnings, targets, distant deadlines. Too often, the response has been lost in noise: delay, distraction, denial. 

But listen closer now. Beneath the noise, another signal is rising.  Solar panels stretch across rooftops. Wind turbines line the horizon. Cities are being redesigned for people. Forests are being replanted. Climate solutions are taking root in every corner of the planet. 

Wetlands at the nexus of climate change 

Climate change is water change. Rising temperatures have led to erratic rainfall patterns, floods, droughts, and wildfires.  

Nearly all the world’s freshwater is supplied by wetlands like rivers, lakes, and peatlands. They play a crucial role in water purification, storage, flood control, and groundwater recharge. In fact, wetlands are so central to the water cycle on earth that a world without wetlands would be a world without freshwater.     

But we have dammed our rivers, drained and degraded our peatlands, polluted our lakes and cut down our mangroves.  

And our actions have had severe consequences. Just look at the last year alone: droughts in Iran, flooding in India and the UK, and increased carbon emissions in China and Canada, can all be attributed to wetland loss.   

But wetlands are unique ecosystems in that they can be irreplaceable solutions to curb climate change.  

Wetlands for Mitigation  

Wetlands are some of the most efficient natural carbon stores, making them vital for our efforts to mitigate, halt, and reverse climate change. 

• Peatlands, despite only covering around 3-4% of the planet’s land surface, contain one-third of the world’s soil carbon, twice the amount of carbon as in the world’s forests.   
• Coastal “blue carbon” ecosystems — including mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes — sequester carbon below ground, locking it away for centuries. In fact, mangroves store up to 5 times more carbon per area than tropical forests and absorb it from the atmosphere about 3 times as quickly, too. And unassuming seagrass meadows are estimated to be up to 40 times more efficient at capturing organic carbon than land forests. 
• Lakes, rivers, and their floodplains are also significant carbon stores. In fact, research shows that Amazonian water bodies capture 39% more carbon per unit area than the rainforest itself.  

Wetlands for Adaptation  

Around the world, wetlands protect communities and help people adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change, like the increasing frequency and intensity of floods and droughts.   

• Mangroves absorb and dissipate wave energy, sheltering communities and cities from storm surges as well as buffering them from sea level rise. 
• Peatlands, floodplains and other wetlands act like sponges, absorbing excess rainfall and releasing it slowly during periods of drought.   

Wetlands for Resilience  

Wetlands are the foundation of resilient societies and have been for millennia. The world’s first great civilisations arose in the fertile floodplains of rivers: the Nile in Egypt, the Indus in southern Asia, the Tigris and the Euphrates in the Middle East, and the Huang in China. Still today, many of the world’s biggest cities are found along the banks of rivers – from London to Kolkata and Chicago. Wetlands provide clean water, fertile soils, and support an immense variety of plant and animal life. In fact, the annual estimated value of water and freshwater ecosystems is US$58 trillion – equivalent to 60% of global GDP. Their health directly reflects ours.  

So, who needs to do what? 

Wetlands International works on restoring degraded peatlands in places such as Mongolia and Peru; on community-based ecological mangrove restoration in places like Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Senegal, the Philippines, and Indonesia; on enhancing water security in places like Ethiopia, Brazil & Argentina and across Europe. 

But we can’t change the world ourselves. We’re here to work with others, to scale impact through synergies. And some sectors have great power (and therefore great responsibility!) to affect change.  

Governments: On a national level, the inclusion of wetlands in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) is critical. Wetlands International has specific guidance on the inclusion of mangroves in NDCs. 

Initiatives like the Mangrove Breakthrough, the Freshwater Challenge, and the soon-to-be-launched Peatland Breakthrough are also important pathways for countries to enable action for wetlands.  

These commitments from governments can ensure that finance flows into nature-based solutions for climate change and away from subsidies that currently cause it. 

Businesses: The private sector is a huge driver of wetland degradation, especially in sectors like agriculture, mining, dredging, palm oil plantations, and infrastructure development. But they also have the ability to drive profits in a sustainable manner. We are keen to transform business-as-usual with organisations towards a wetland-positive economy.  

Financiers: Finally, the money to fund restoration and conservation has to come from the private sector, especially from sources that have massive wealth and patience like pension funds and insurers.  

As we mark World Environment Day, we call out to those with the power, ability, and interest to affect this large-scale change: are you ready to act for wetlands #NowForClimate?