A quarter of natural carbon solutions involve putting it back in the ground

An American-led study has attempted to measure the role soil carbon could play in mitigating climate change.

Researchers say soil carbon sequestration – which involves taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it in soils – accounts for 25% of the potential of natural land-based climate change solutions.

They say the technique is a ‘no-regrets opportunity’ for climate mitigation that could benefit agriculture by improving soil fertility and climate resilience.

The study mostly involved American scientists but also included scientists working in Scotland and China.

According to the Abstract (HERE):

Mitigating climate change requires clean energy and the removal of atmospheric carbon.

Building soil carbon is an appealing way to increase carbon sinks and reduce emissions owing to the associated benefits to agriculture. However, the practical implementation of soil carbon climate strategies lags behind the potential, partly because we lack clarity around the magnitude of opportunity and how to capitalize on it.

Here we quantify the role of soil carbon in natural (land-based) climate solutions and review some of the project design mechanisms available to tap into the potential. We show that soil carbon represents 25% of the potential of natural climate solutions (total potential, 23.8 Gt of CO₂-equivalent per year), of which 40% is protection of existing soil carbon and 60% is rebuilding depleted stocks.

Soil carbon comprises 9% of the mitigation potential of forests, 72% for wetlands and 47% for agriculture and grasslands.

Soil carbon is important to land-based efforts to prevent carbon emissions, remove atmospheric carbon dioxide and deliver ecosystem services in addition to climate mitigation.

Source:  Scimex