Soil Carbon Potential of Every Field in UK Revealed in Boost for Net Zero Goals in Agriculture

A new online tool launched last week by Soil in Formation (SIF) in coordination with UK based Verdant Carbon enables government agencies, supply chains, farmers and land owners to find out for the first time how much carbon could be removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil of every agricultural field in the UK.

The new carbon prospecting tool ‘SIF Attain’ aims to enable the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and other UK government agencies to incentivize farmers more accurately for carbon sequestration and improvements in soil health. It would also enable DEFRA to put a detailed plan in place on how to meet their net zero goals before 2050 in England and Wales and the Scottish Government to meet their 2045 net zero target.

UK soils currently store approximately 10 billion tons of carbon, which is roughly equivalent to 80 years of the UK’s current annual greenhouse gas emissions. The topsoil organic carbon pool is at high risk in 43 to 83 million hectares of EU and UK agricultural land, primarily in cool and humid regions, according to a JRC-led study published in Nature Communications in March. This corresponds to between 23% and 44% of all EU and UK agricultural land. In the UK alone, it is estimated that 0.6% of soil carbon is being lost every year.