Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 4 — Narrative / commentaryPeer-reviewed

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

Cornélia Rumpel, Farshad Amiraslani, Claire Chenu, Magali García Cárdenas, Martin Kaonga, Lydie‐Stella Koutika, J. K. Ladha, B. E. Madari, Yasuhito Shirato, Pete Smith, Brahim Soudi, Jean‐François Soussana, David Whitehead, Eva Wollenberg

AMBIO · 2019

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Summary

This multi-author review evaluates the 4p1000 initiative—a proposal to increase global soil organic carbon by 0.4% annually as a climate mitigation strategy. The authors assess both the technical potential and practical constraints of soil carbon sequestration across diverse agroecological contexts, examining how realistic and scalable such an approach might be for sustainable development. The paper appears to identify significant opportunities alongside notable limitations in translating the initiative into field-level practice.

UK applicability

The findings are relevant to UK agricultural policy and carbon sequestration targets, particularly regarding temperate soil management and the feasibility of soil carbon credits. However, the global scope may require contextualisation for UK-specific soil types, climate and regulatory frameworks.

Key measures

Soil organic carbon stocks; sequestration rates; implementation barriers; policy and technical feasibility across farming systems

Outcomes reported

The paper examines the opportunities, limitations and challenges for implementing soil organic carbon sequestration as a sustainable development strategy under the 4p1000 initiative framework. It assesses the feasibility and constraints of increasing soil carbon across diverse agricultural and land-use systems globally.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Soil carbon & organic matter
Study type
Narrative Review
Study design
Narrative review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Mixed farming
DOI
10.1007/s13280-019-01165-2
Catalogue ID
BFmor3g9dg-j9xbfe

Topic tags

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