Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) on UK cropland, i.e. adding crushed rocks to soils (read more about the process here), could sequester 6–30 MtCO2 yr−1 by 2050, providing up to 45% of the atmospheric carbon removal necessary to reach national net zero goals. ERW can also reduce nitrous oxide emissions from soils, reduce soil acidification (through formation of carbonate) and reduce fertiliser requirements (by increasing supply of phosphorus and potassium). The paper questions the need for energy-intensive milling of rocks into fine particles, finding that particles on sites with high weathering potential are weathered rapidly regardless of size.

This paper analyses satellite data and finds that the annual rate of carbon loss from tropical forests has doubled between the time periods 2001-05 and 2015-19, primarily driven by agricultural expansion.

This study reviews the variation in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from vegetable oil production around the world. It re-analyses life cycle data covering almost 6000 producers of palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oil across 38 countries. It finds that the carbon opportunity cost of farming oil crops instead of keeping native land cover drives considerable variation in the carbon footprint of vegetable oils.

This book chapter discusses creating frameworks to increase soil carbon, covering the biophysical evidence on how different practices affect soil carbon, policy options, measurement systems and integration of economic, social and cultural dimensions.

This report from Cambridge Consultants examines the technologies and data science techniques that can be used to measure soil carbon cheaply and accurate, enabling farmers to sell carbon sequestration credits.

This paper discusses the ways in which nature-based solutions (NbS) to climate change and biodiversity loss are framed and understood, and traces the growth of interest in NbS among researchers, governments, NGOs and the private sector. It sets out four guiding principles for policymakers, practitioners and researchers to implement NbS in ways that provide benefits to the environment and society. 

This report from climate non-profit Project Drawdown discusses how food, agriculture and land use contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and how the sector can both reduce emissions and sequester carbon. Suggestions include conserving and restoring tropical forests, making animal and rice agriculture more efficient, using fertilisers more efficiently, reducing food waste, eating plant-rich diets, intensifying agriculture to spare land for conservation and ecosystem restoration, using regenerative cropping and grazing techniques to build soil carbon, and using perennial crops.

This paper, co-authored by Table member Ken Giller, investigates the soil organic carbon stocks of oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia under a variety of management practices. Plantations using “best management practices” were found to have the highest soil carbon stocks, at 68 t ha−1. Plantations with smallholder management practices had the lowest soil carbon stocks, at 46 t ha−1, while those with current standard management practices had stocks of 57 t ha−1.

This paper presents a global analysis of the greenhouse gas balance of the world’s grasslands - both managed and natural - between 1750 and 2012, aiming to separate the direct effects of management by humans and the indirect effects of climate change. It finds that in most world regions, managed grasslands (those grazed by livestock or mown for grass forage) have a net warming effect on the climate, while sparsely grazed grasslands (natural grasslands not affected by livestock, but which may be grazed by wild animals) have a net cooling effect.