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The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions

Author

Listed:
  • D. A. Bossio

    (The Nature Conservancy)

  • S. C. Cook-Patton

    (The Nature Conservancy)

  • P. W. Ellis

    (The Nature Conservancy)

  • J. Fargione

    (The Nature Conservancy)

  • J. Sanderman

    (Woods Hole Research Center)

  • P. Smith

    (University of Aberdeen)

  • S. Wood

    (The Nature Conservancy
    Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies)

  • R. J. Zomer

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • M. Unger

    (Silvestrum Climate Associates LLC)

  • I. M. Emmer

    (Silvestrum Climate Associates LLC)

  • B. W. Griscom

    (Conservation International)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • D. A. Bossio & S. C. Cook-Patton & P. W. Ellis & J. Fargione & J. Sanderman & P. Smith & S. Wood & R. J. Zomer & M. Unger & I. M. Emmer & B. W. Griscom, 2020. "The role of soil carbon in natural climate solutions," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(5), pages 391-398, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:3:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1038_s41893-020-0491-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-0491-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Shannan K. Sweet & Jonathon P. Schuldt & Johannes Lehmann & Deborah A. Bossio & Dominic Woolf, 2021. "Perceptions of naturalness predict US public support for Soil Carbon Storage as a climate solution," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Katerina Georgiou & Robert B. Jackson & Olga Vindušková & Rose Z. Abramoff & Anders Ahlström & Wenting Feng & Jennifer W. Harden & Adam F. A. Pellegrini & H. Wayne Polley & Jennifer L. Soong & William, 2022. "Global stocks and capacity of mineral-associated soil organic carbon," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Ribeiro, N.S. & Armstrong, Amanda Hildt & Fischer, Rico & Kim, Yeon-Su & Shugart, Herman Henry & Ribeiro-Barros, Ana I. & Chauque, Aniceto & Tear, T. & Washington-Allen, Robert & Bandeira, Romana R., 2021. "Prediction of forest parameters and carbon accounting under different fire regimes in Miombo woodlands, Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Stephen M. Bell & Samuel J. Raymond & He Yin & Wenzhe Jiao & Daniel S. Goll & Philippe Ciais & Elsa Olivetti & Victor O. Leshyk & César Terrer, 2023. "Quantifying the recarbonization of post-agricultural landscapes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-4, December.
    5. Dmitriev, M., 2022. "Scenarios of greenhouse gases emissions for Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 201-206.
    6. Comello, Stephen & Reichelstein, Julia & Reichelstein, Stefan, 2023. "Corporate carbon reporting: Improving transparency and accountability," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-026, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Licheng Liu & Wang Zhou & Kaiyu Guan & Bin Peng & Shaoming Xu & Jinyun Tang & Qing Zhu & Jessica Till & Xiaowei Jia & Chongya Jiang & Sheng Wang & Ziqi Qin & Hui Kong & Robert Grant & Symon Mezbahuddi, 2024. "Knowledge-guided machine learning can improve carbon cycle quantification in agroecosystems," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Valentina Brombin & Enrico Mistri & Mauro De Feudis & Camilla Forti & Gian Marco Salani & Claudio Natali & Gloria Falsone & Livia Vittori Antisari & Gianluca Bianchini, 2020. "Soil Carbon Investigation in Three Pedoclimatic and Agronomic Settings of Northern Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-19, December.
    9. Jing Tian & Jennifer A. J. Dungait & Ruixing Hou & Ye Deng & Iain P. Hartley & Yunfeng Yang & Yakov Kuzyakov & Fusuo Zhang & M. Francesca Cotrufo & Jizhong Zhou, 2024. "Microbially mediated mechanisms underlie soil carbon accrual by conservation agriculture under decade-long warming," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    10. Zhe (Han) Weng & Lukas Zwieten & Ehsan Tavakkoli & Michael T. Rose & Bhupinder Pal Singh & Stephen Joseph & Lynne M. Macdonald & Stephen Kimber & Stephen Morris & Terry J. Rose & Braulio S. Archanjo &, 2022. "Microspectroscopic visualization of how biochar lifts the soil organic carbon ceiling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    11. McClelland, Shelby C. & Paustian, Keith & Williams, Stephen & Schipanski, Meagan E., 2021. "Modeling cover crop biomass production and related emissions to improve farm-scale decision-support tools," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    12. Bernardo Martin-Gorriz & José A. Zabala & Virginia Sánchez-Navarro & Belén Gallego-Elvira & Víctor Martínez-García & Francisco Alcon & José Francisco Maestre-Valero, 2022. "Intercropping Practices in Mediterranean Mandarin Orchards from an Environmental and Economic Perspective," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, April.
    13. Galán-Martín, Ángel & Contreras, María del Mar & Romero, Inmaculada & Ruiz, Encarnación & Bueno-Rodríguez, Salvador & Eliche-Quesada, Dolores & Castro-Galiano, Eulogio, 2022. "The potential role of olive groves to deliver carbon dioxide removal in a carbon-neutral Europe: Opportunities and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    14. Camila Bonilla-Cedrez & Peter Steward & Todd S. Rosenstock & Philip Thornton & Jacobo Arango & Martin Kropff & Julian Ramirez-Villegas, 2023. "Priority areas for investment in more sustainable and climate-resilient livestock systems," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1279-1286, October.
    15. Sonali Shukla McDermid & Matthew Hayek & Dale W. Jamieson & Galina Hale & David Kanter, 2023. "Research needs for a food system transition," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 1-15, April.
    16. Telmo José Mendes & Diego Silva Siqueira & Eduardo Barretto Figueiredo & Ricardo de Oliveira Bordonal & Mara Regina Moitinho & José Marques Júnior & Newton La Scala Jr., 2021. "Soil carbon stock estimations: methods and a case study of the Maranhão State, Brazil," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16410-16427, November.
    17. Damien Beillouin & Marc Corbeels & Julien Demenois & David Berre & Annie Boyer & Abigail Fallot & Frédéric Feder & Rémi Cardinael, 2023. "A global meta-analysis of soil organic carbon in the Anthropocene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    18. Nabila, Rakhmawati & Hidayat, Wahyu & Haryanto, Agus & Hasanudin, Udin & Iryani, Dewi Agustina & Lee, Sihyun & Kim, Sangdo & Kim, Soohyun & Chun, Donghyuk & Choi, Hokyung & Im, Hyuk & Lim, Jeonghwan &, 2023. "Oil palm biomass in Indonesia: Thermochemical upgrading and its utilization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    19. Martin C. Parlasca & Matin Qaim, 2022. "Meat Consumption and Sustainability," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 17-41, October.

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