Our Year in Review - Looking Back at 2025
2025 was a landmark year for Peatland Finance Ireland (PFI), as the organisation strengthened its position as Ireland’s national vehicle for mobilising blended finance for peatland restoration. PFI achieved significant progress this year, including the launch of V1.0 of the Peatland Standard for Ireland, securing millions in private finance investment for restoration, and contributing to alignment between peatland restoration finance and national and EU policy frameworks.
Advancing the Irish Peatland Standard
A cornerstone of PFI’s work in 2025 was the development of the Irish Peatland Standard. Moving from draft to its first published version, the Standard establishes a high-integrity framework for peatland restoration projects across Ireland. Key achievements include:
Development of a Pilot Phase Pre-Registry and registry requirements to prevent greenwashing.
Tools including an emission reduction calculator, market leakage assessments, income sustainability analysis, grievance procedures, benefit distribution protocols, and additionality tests.
Ongoing consultations to establish an Irish-based validation and verification body.
Research into low-cost monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) methods to ensure scalable, robust project measurement.
These steps lay a strong technical foundation for a blended financing system for peatland restoration in Ireland.
Mobilising Private Finance
PFI’s efforts to connect finance with restoration projects achieved remarkable results in 2025. The organisation helped secure over €3 million in investment from Google, Microsoft, and Meta through intermediaries Bonneville Environmental Foundation and Agua Segura. This funding is supporting peatland restoration projects, including the first landowner contract signed with a major estate in the Wicklow Mountains Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
PFI also engaged extensively with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the UNDP Centre for Sustainable Finance to further embed the Peatland Standard into Ireland’s broader finance ecosystem.
Policy and Funding Integration
PFI’s work in 2025 also focused on ensuring alignment between peatland restoration finance and national and EU policy frameworks. Highlights include:
Collaboration with DG CLIMA on the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF) peatland methodology.
Registration on the DC ENV Expert Working Group for nature credits.
Proposals to align the Peatland Standard methodology with result-based scorecards such as the Wetlands Action Network (WAN).
Ongoing development of the Irish Peatland Restoration Fund with EIB, ISIF, DAFM, and large tech offtakers of peatland ecosystem certificates.
The Peatland Standard has also been recognised as a model for potential nature credit systems in the European Commission’s Roadmap Towards Nature Credits. PFI was also featured as a case-study in the UN Environment Programme’s recent analysis on collaborations between multi-lateral environmental agreements (MEAs).
Engaging Stakeholders and the Public
PFI continued to foster collaboration and transparency with stakeholders:
Advisory Groups provided input on technical, financial, and communications approaches.
Public consultation on the Peatland Standard culminated in actionable feedback incorporated into Version 1.0.
Engagement with landowners, policy makers, NGOs, academia, and the private sector strengthened the Standard’s applicability and credibility.
PFI actively communicated its mission through social media, website resources, infographics, videos, and innovative outreach tools like peatland-themed beer mats.
Looking Ahead
With its technical foundations solidified, first pilot projects underway, and strong engagement with finance partners, PFI is well-positioned to scale Ireland’s peatland restoration finance system in 2026. The milestones achieved in 2025 demonstrate that a blended financing approach, paired with rigorous standards and strong governance, has an opportunity to play a transformative role in restoring Ireland’s peatlands for climate resilience and biodiversity.