Soil carbon is the blind spot of European national GHG inventories

Valentin Bellassen (), Denis Angers, Tomasz Kowalczewski and Asger Olesen
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Valentin Bellassen: CESAER UMR1041, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté
Denis Angers: Université Laval and AAFC
Tomasz Kowalczewski: COWI
Asger Olesen: FSC International

Nature Climate Change, 2022, vol. 12, issue 4, 324-331

Abstract: Abstract Soil carbon is currently being monitored in European national greenhouse-gas (GHG) inventories. Reviewing the data and methods, we find that unreported losses could be around 70 MtCO2 yr–1 in croplands, and unreported gains could be around 15 MtCO2 yr–1 in grasslands and 45 MtCO2 yr–1 in forests. The share of European Union (EU) forest area for which soil carbon is being accurately reported is at most 33%, and more likely close to 24%. Accuracy is even worse for grasslands and croplands. Widespread adoption of key carbon-farming practices (peatland restoration, agroforestry, substituting maize with grass) could remove an additional 150–350 MtCO2 yr–1. Yet, if effective policies lead to realizing this potential, current GHG inventories would not capture their climate mitigation benefits.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-022-01321-9

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