Promoting carbon sequestration in soils: The 4 per 1000 initiative

The "4‰" Initiative was launched at the COP21 as part of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda. It aims to improve the organic matter content of soils and promote soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration to increase soil fertility and thereby contribute to food security, to foster adaptation to climate change and contribute to mitigating climate change. The initiative focuses primarily on agricultural soils, because of their frequent poor soil organic carbon content and degradation and of their crucial role in food provision but also considers forest soils and the preservation of existing SOC stocks. The objectives of the initiative are: (i) to promote research on the knowledge needed for the initiative (mechanisms and potential of organic C sequestration in soils; SOC sequestering management agricultural and forestry practices; adoption and transition to these practices; monitoring SOC stocks) and to (ii) to foster initiatives, by a variety of actors, to better manage SOC in the field via agricultural practices. The gouvernance of the "4‰" Initiative is organised in to three bodies, which will interact closely with each other: the consortium of all members, who elect the president and vice president of the initiative, the forum of partners and the scientific and technical committee (STC). The work of all these bodies is facilitated by the executive secretary. The STC has the mission to support SOC sequestration programs initiated by a wide variety of actors by setting reference criteria for the evaluation of SOC management projects and actions. The committee will give advice on these actions and formulate proposals for the orientations of international scientific research and cooperation programs. The advice given by the STC is founded on the principles and goals of the Initiative and coherent with the Sustainable Development Goals. This presentation will present the on-going work of the STC on the sustainable SOC sequestration indicators. The challenge is to identify easily utilizable indicators relative to SOC storage itself, but also to mitigation of GHG emissions, improved productivity and food security, better adaptation to climate change, but also relative to other impacts of SOC sequestration strategies (on water quality or land tenure for example).