Agriculture today is responsible for about ten percent of national greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change and limiting the availability of vital soil-based ecosystem services like nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and water regulation.
Research shows that if soil organic matter is increased – even slightly – across the world’s croplands, grasslands, and forest lands, it is possible to remove atmospheric carbon, reduce harmful emissions of greenhouse gases, promote whole landscape function, and meanwhile, maintain or even increase harvests and production quality.
In a warming climate, where agriculture is increasingly vulnerable ecologically and economically, governments at all levels face the policy challenge of supporting both healthy economies and healthy ecosystems across the agricultural sector.