Paul et al. (2023): Carbon farming: Are soil carbon certificates a suitable tool for climate change mitigation?

Carsten Paul, Bartosz Bartkowski, Cenk Dönmez, Axel Don, Stefanie Mayer, Markus Steffens, Sebastian Weigl, Martin Wiesmeier, André Wolf, Katharina Helming IN: Journal of Environmental Management 330, 117142, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.117142

In this paper, the authors assess the suitability of these certificates as an instrument for climate change mitigation. From a soils‘ perspective, they address processes of soil organic carbon (SOC) enrichment, their potentials and limits, and options for cost-effective measurement and monitoring. From a farmers’ perspective, the authors assess management options likely to increase SOC, and discuss their synergies and trade-offs with economic, environmental and social targets. From a governance perspective, the authors address requirements to guarantee additionality and permanence while preventing leakage effects. Furthermore, they address questions of legitimacy and accountability.

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