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A global agenda for collective action on soil carbon

Nature Sustainability volume 2, pages 2–4 (2019)Cite this article

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Policymakers and investors have perceived securing soil organic carbon as too difficult, with uncertain returns. But new technical, policy and financial opportunities offer hope for rapid progress.

Growing visibility and international frameworks for soil organic carbon are not yet matched by investment and action at scale. Soils, mostly privately owned but delivering public goods, are managed under a miscellany of governance arrangements, from local to global1. While there have been compelling calls for action on soils, diverse protagonists across business1,2, governments and civil society who seek to secure soil organic carbon recognize barriers beyond their individual reach — and hence an urgent need for a cross-sectoral global agenda.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by The Nature Conservancy, the Craig and Susan McCaw Foundation, and Cornell University’s David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (2016-TNC-Ryan-mrr232). We thank all participants in the dialogue for co-generating the agenda for action, and our reviewers for improving the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WWF International, Gland, Switzerland

    Sonja Vermeulen

  2. Hoffmann Centre for Sustainable Resource Economy, London, UK

    Sonja Vermeulen

  3. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA, USA

    Deborah Bossio

  4. Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Johannes Lehmann

  5. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Johannes Lehmann

  6. Institute for Advanced Studies, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Johannes Lehmann

  7. 4 per 1000 Initiative, c/o CGIAR System Organization, Montpellier, France

    Paul Luu

  8. Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Keith Paustian

  9. The Nature Conservancy, London, UK

    Christopher Webb

  10. Danone, Paris, France

    Flore Augé

  11. Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ Office Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Imelda Bacudo

  12. The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA

    Tobias Baedeker

  13. Clarmondial AG, Männedorf, Switzerland

    Tanja Havemann

  14. National Farmers’ Union, Stoneleigh, UK

    Ceris Jones

  15. Chatham House, London, UK

    Richard King

  16. World Business Council on Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland

    Matthew Reddy

  17. Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions, Centurion, South Africa

    Ishmael Sunga

  18. Silvestrum Climate Associates, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Moritz Von Unger

  19. Corporate Carbon, Glebe, Australia

    Matthew Warnken

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  1. Sonja Vermeulen
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Correspondence to Sonja Vermeulen.

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Vermeulen, S., Bossio, D., Lehmann, J. et al. A global agenda for collective action on soil carbon. Nat Sustain 2, 2–4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0212-z

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