Moinet et al. (2023): Carbon for soils, not soils for carbon

Gabriel Y. K. Moinet, Renske Hijbeek, Detlef P. van Vuuren, Ken E. Giller IN: Global Change Biology, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16570

The authors critically re-examine the benefits of global SOC (soil organic carbon) sequestration strategies on both climate change mitigation and food production. While estimated contributions of SOC sequestration to climate change vary, almost none take SOC saturation into account. Here, the authors show that including saturation in estimations decreases any potential contribution of SOC sequestration to climate change mitigation by 53%–81% towards 2100. In addition, reviewing more than 21 meta-analyses, they found that observed yield effects of increasing SOC are inconsistent, ranging from negative to neutral to positive. Tha authors find that the promise of a win-win outcome is confirmed only when specific land management practices are applied under specific conditions.

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