3. Increasing soil carbon stocks to mitigate climate change : fantasy or reality

3.1 Sequestration of organic carbon in soil to mitigate climate change

Estimations of the quantities of SOC released into the atmosphere or the amounts of organic carbon stored in the soil – notably after a change in land use or farming practice – have revealed that soil plays an important role in climate regulation. As a result, there have been suggestions in recent years that policies aimed at deliberately increasing SOC stocks could help mitigate climate change. The earliest comprehensive assessment of this possibility for mainland France was carried out by INRA in 2002