The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has just reaffirmed its commitment to climate action. It launched this Wednesday, September 8, 2021, two practical tools to encourage the sequestration of soil organic carbon.

Sustainable soil management can help mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis and improve food security and nutrition. This is why the two practical instruments have been designed to encourage the maintenance and sequestration of soil organic carbon, a key tool for climate action. This is a global map named GSOCseq illustrating how much and where CO2 can be sequestered by soils and a technical manual of good practices for sequestering and maintaining SOC stocks in soils. “We must seek innovative ways to transform our agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. Healthy soils are key to achieving this,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said during the opening session of the ninth Global Soil Partnership (GSP) Plenary Assembly. Carbon sequestration involves the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as soil organic carbon (SOC), with the capture of CO2 in the soil being considered an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases. Because carbon-rich soils are also healthier and more fertile, they can benefit farmers while helping to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals.