Soil Is Bigger Carbon Sink Than Previously Thought: Report

A new report issued on “Agriculture Day” of COP30 found that soils store about 2,822 gigatons of carbon in the top one meter, up from earlier estimates of around 1,500 gigatons. It also concluded that 27% of carbon emissions needed to keep global warming below 2C can be sequestered in soils in good condition, the equivalent of about 3.38 gigatons of carbon dioxide (Gt CO2) per year.

This carbon sink is in danger: the report explains that at current rates, soil degradation could release 4.81 billion metric tons of CO2 per year into the atmosphere, if allowed to continue. Current CO2 emissions from degrading US soils alone equate to approximately 75 million cars, while that if 1% of the carbon in Europe’s soils were to be released, it would equate to the annual emissions of 1 billion cars.

Meanwhile, the economic value of soil’s ecosystem services are estimated at over $11 trillion annually, with every $1 of investment in soil regeneration leading to as much as $30 in economic returns, according to the report.

Despite this, only 30% of nations include soil restoration as a climate mitigation solution in their COP30 National Determined Contributions (NDCs), national climate plans mandated under the Paris Agreement.