Source: European Union 2 Published on: 2026-06-25
Wetlands are vital for biodiversity conservation and climate regulation, but their contribution to mitigating climate change is often underestimated by policy makers. A lack of good quality data and complex management needs only adds to the challenge.
That’s where LIFE WetLands4CLIMATE — which won the Climate Action category in the recent LIFE Awards 2026 during European Green Week — steps in. The 4-year, €2.1 million project developed a useful methodology to offset carbon emissions through the management and restoration of Mediterranean wetlands, confirming that these ecosystems can play an important role in the fight against climate change.
The project focused on three different types of wetland across Spain: freshwater wetlands in Castilla y León, saline wetlands in Castilla-La Mancha and coastal wetlands in Comunitat Valenciana. A total of 3 690 tonnes of CO2 equivalent were saved — that’s roughly equivalent to the annual carbon emissions from more than 800 family cars. Mitigation increased by 25%-45% when using sediment management and 100%-700% through vegetation management. More than 58 ha of coastal lagoons, 75 ha of vegetation, 213 ha of salt meadows, 3 ha of eutrophic lakes and 5 ha of temporary ponds were improved.
LIFE WetLands4CLIMATE was praised for its ‘strong scientific baseline’ and for engaging the private sector, aligning wetland management with EU climate objectives, and transferring proven methodologies and best practices to land managers across Europe. These included a handbook for incorporating a climate mitigation perspective into wetland management and restoration, aimed at managers, scientists, and policy makers. More than 50 companies participated in workshops focused on reducing their carbon footprint through wetland management and restoration.
Vanessa Sánchez Otega of the Fundación Global Nature, which coordinated the project, said ‘Wetlands are a climate solution and they also support biodiversity. When wetlands are restored, the climate wins, nature wins and society wins.’
LIFE WetLands4CLIMATE supports the EU Climate Action Strategy, the integrated framework for European climate resilience and risk management and the decarbonisation pillar of the EU competitiveness compass. The project also contributes to the EU Birds, Habitats and Water Framework Directives, the 2030 EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Nature Restoration Regulation.