Implementing Cost-effective Soil Organic Carbon MRV in Agricultural Investments

This event will provide insight into the implementation of cost-effective SOC MRV in agricultural projects for improving the standardization of processes for creating carbon assets, based on “lessons from the field” – Kenya and Burkina Faso and a conversation with World Food Prize winner and renowned soil expert Professor Rattan Lal. Moving towards zero GHG emissions by 2050 is a pre-condition for avoiding global warming higher than 1.5oC by the end of the century. The land use and agriculture sector can provide close to one-third of this global commitment while ensuring food security, farmer resilience and sustainable development. Protecting soil organic carbon (SOC) and sequestering carbon in organic matter-depleted soils might cost-effectively provide close to 15% of this target and support another 15% from large-scale restoration and implementation of best agronomic practices.

However, incentives to farmers, consumer education for informed choices, and transparent, accurate, consistent and comparable methods for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of changes in SOC stocks are lagging behind and preventing large-scale SOC protection and sequestration from flying.

The development of cost-effective SOC MRV would help to unlock the generation of carbon assets and the implementation of best agronomic practices at scale. This is especially applicable to developing countries, where most of the SOC sequestration potential lies, but which are also marked by the limitation of data, technical capacity and infrastructure for implementing and running a robust SOC MRV.