Soil Association on soil carbon

New research from the Soil Association reveals that if all UK farmland was converted to organic farming, at least 3.2 million tonnes of carbon would be taken up by the soil each year - the equivalent of taking nearly 1 million cars off the road. Patrick Holden, Soil Association Director, said: “Unless we are successful in tackling climate change, we won’t be able to feed the world’s growing population, however we farm. This report shows that agriculture can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while producing food sustainably. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 89 % of agriculture’s global greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential is from carbon sequestration – a fact that Governments seem to be ignoring in the critical run-up to climate change talks in Copenhagen (COP 15) in December, according to the Soil Association.
 

The research’s key findings are: On average, organic farming produces 28 % higher levels of soil carbon compared to non-organic farming in Northern Europe, and 20 % higher for all countries studied (in Europe, North America and Australasia). In the UK, grasslands and mixed farming systems also have a vital role to play, and soil carbon may go a long way to offsetting the methane emissions from grass-fed cattle and sheep. The widespread adoption of organic farming practices in the UK would offset 23 % of UK agricultural emissions through soil carbon sequestration alone, more than doubling the UK Government’s low target of a 6-11 % reduction by 2020. A worldwide switch to organic farming could offset 11 % of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Raising soil carbon levels would also make farming worldwide more resilient to extremes of climate like droughts and floods, leading to greater food security. The full report and the summary findings are available here