Towards a global-scale soil climate mitigation strategy
Wulf Amelung, Déborah Bossio, W. de Vries, Ingrid Kögel‐Knabner, Johannes Lehmann, Ronald Amundson, Roland Bol, Chris D. Collins, Rattan Lal, Jens Leifeld, Budiman Minasny, Genxing Pan, Keith Paustian, Cornélia Rumpel, Jonathan Sanderman, Jan Willem van Groenigen, Siân Mooney, Bas van Wesemael, Michelle M. Wander, Abad Chabbi
Abstract
Sustainable soil carbon sequestration practices need to be rapidly scaled up and implemented to contribute to climate change mitigation. We highlight that the major potential for carbon sequestration is in cropland soils, especially those with large yield gaps and/or large historic soil organic carbon losses. The implementation of soil carbon sequestration measures requires a diverse set of options, each adapted to local soil conditions and management opportunities, and accounting for site-specific trade-offs. We propose the establishment of a soil information system containing localised information on soil group, degradation status, crop yield gap, and the associated carbon-sequestration potentials, as well as the provision of incentives and policies to translate management options into region- and soil-specific practices.