Saving soils and climate: "4 per 1000" Initiative

The “4 per 1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate” aims to demonstrate that agriculture, and agricultural soils in particular, can play a crucial role where food security and climate change are concerned.

The “4 per 1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate” was launched by the French Government at the Paris Climate Summit on December 1, 2015 and further discussed at COP22 in Marrakesh. It aims to demonstrate that agriculture, and agricultural soils in particular, can play a crucial role where food security and climate change are concerned. According to the French Agriculture Ministry, a 0.4-percent annual growth rate in soil carbon content would make it possible to stop the present increase in atmospheric CO2 and achieve the long-term objective of limiting the average global temperature increase to the 1.5°C to 2°C threshold beyond which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says would lead to a climate disaster.

“This is the most exciting news to come out of COP21. By launching this Initiative, the French Government has validated the work of scientists and farmers and ranchers who have demonstrated the power of organic regenerative agriculture to restore the soil’s natural ability to draw down and sequester carbon", says Andre Leu, president of IFOAM Organics International.

The Initiative invites all partners to declare or to implement practical programs for carbon sequestration in soil and the types of farming methods used to promote it (e.g. agroecology, agroforestry, conservation agriculture, landscape management).

The initiative consists of a voluntary action plan under the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA), backed by an ambitious research program.

The Organic Consumers Association and IFOAM Organics International are among the one hundred partners who were signed on at the launch of the “4 per 1000” Initiative. Partners include developed and developing states, international organizations, private foundations, international funds, NGOs and farmers' organizations.

Visit the official 4 per 1000 website to learn more: http://4p1000.org/

Watch the short video that explains the initiative