The 4p1000 initiative: Opportunities, limitations and challenges for implementing soil organic carbon sequestration as a sustainable development strategy

Summary

This 2019 international review critically assesses the 4p1000 initiative's central claim that a 0.4% annual increase in soil organic carbon could meaningfully contribute to climate change mitigation and sustainable development. The authors synthesise evidence on opportunities and constraints for carbon sequestration across different farming contexts and geographies, concluding that whilst soil carbon enhancement offers genuine co-benefits for soil health and productivity, its effectiveness as a standalone climate strategy is constrained by practical, economic, and governance challenges.

Regional applicability

The review's findings on measurement and verification challenges, economic barriers, governance constraints, and temperate-climate soil carbon dynamics are directly relevant to UK soil carbon policy and agricultural incentive schemes. The paper's critical assessment of the 4p1000 target's feasibility and implementation barriers has implications for UK carbon farming standards, environmental land management schemes, and the design of nature recovery programmes.

Key measures

Soil organic carbon sequestration rates; annual soil organic carbon increase rates (%); regional and system-specific sequestration potential; measurement and verification challenges; cost-effectiveness; economic, institutional and governance barriers to implementation

Outcomes reported

This critical review evaluated the feasibility, opportunities and constraints of implementing soil organic carbon sequestration as a climate mitigation and sustainable development strategy across diverse farming systems and geographies. The authors synthesised evidence on regional carbon sequestration potential, agronomic feasibility, and cost-effectiveness whilst identifying significant limitations in measurement, verification, adoption, and governance.

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