Can Soil Make a Difference

8/14/2019 Can Soil Make a Difference

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Report on the con erence

Climate change can soil make a di erence?Brussels, Thursday 12 June 2008


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Table o Contents

Pre ace p. 7

Mr Stavros Dimas and Mr Luc Gnacadja

Executive Summary p. 9

Con erence programme p.12

Introduction by the Chair p.14Mr Luc Gnacadja

Key Note Address p.16Mr Stavros Dimas

Summary o presentations p.19

Summary o panel members contributions p.24

Final remarks p.29Mr Jos Delbeke


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The Environment Directorate-General o the EuropeanCommission organised a high-level con erence on

12th June 2008 in Brussels to discuss the relationshipbetween soil as a repository o organic carbon andclimate change. This Report contains a summary o the presentations and the discussions held at thecon erence.

Soil is an environmental medium that is o tenneglected because people sometimes do not realisethe importance it has or the ecosystem and theeconomy. The ood we eat, the clothes we wear, thewater we drink they are all related to the capacityo soil to per orm its undamental unctions. Whensoils are degraded, this capacity is seriously impaired.Moreover, when the degradation reaches seriouslevels, it can result in deserti cation phenomena. Theseare a ecting not only drylands, but also Europeancountries, and are expected to increase due to climatechange. In addition to its unctions linked to biomassand bre production, nutrient recycling and water

ltration, gene pool and archive o our geological andarchaeological heritage, soil plays a crucial role in theglobal carbon cycle. The exploration o that role wasthe objective o the con erence.

Soil organic matter is the second biggest carbonpool o the planet a ter the oceans. In the EuropeanUnion (EU) alone there are more than 70 billiontonnes o organic carbon in the soil. Releasing to theatmosphere just a small raction o that amount runsthe risk o wiping out all the savings that other sectorso the European economy are achieving in order tocontain anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.Un ortunately, this is not a theoretical scenario,as the reader will be able to see rom some o the

presentations made at the con erence. There are several varied actors contributing to losseso carbon rom soils. Long-term changes in landmanagement practices driven essentially by changingeconomic circumstances may be among them. In

Europe (and elsewhere in the industrialised world),we have, over the past century or so, completely

mechanised and streamlined many o our armingsystems, specialising production and simpli yingmanagement. In making these changes, most o which have brought strong socio-economic bene ts,we have taken our eyes o what is happening to soils.Land management approaches, largely not related tosoil management, have played centre role in expandingproductivity. It now appears that slow and gradualreductions in soil organic matter is taking place, not

ully assessed at eld level but very signi cant whentaken as a whole in terms o carbon emissions. Theatmosphere, o course, makes no distinction regardingthe origin o carbon dioxide inso ar as climate changeis concerned.

But long-term changes in land management arenot the ull picture. Changes in rain all patterns andincreases in average temperatures brought about byclimate change are also playing a role. A rise in globaltemperature accelerates carbon losses rom soils,driving up the concentration o carbon dioxide in theatmosphere. The changes in rain all patterns will, o course, additionally contribute to an increase in erosionin vulnerable soils, which o ten already su er rom loworganic matter content. Climate change will thus put

urther pressure on soil quality and will increase therisk o deserti cation and land degradation, which isalready a ecting the southern Member States o theEuropean Union and is expected to move graduallynorthward.

Are we there ore doomed to see soil degradation risingand ever increasing losses o organic matter rom soilbecause o climate change?

The distinguished scienti c speakers who participatedin the con erence were clear in their overall message. Itis more urgent than ever to act in avour o appropriatepolicies and practices that avour maintaining oreven increasing soil organic matter levels. We should

Pre ace


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start with protecting peatlands because o the hugeamount o carbon they store not to mention their rolein terms o water ltration and their rich biodiversity.We should then turn our attention to inadequateagricultural practices and to their drivers, bearing inmind that the more organic carbon we keep in oradd to the soil, the less carbon dioxide we will havein the atmosphere. Indeed, one o the speakers atthe con erence estimated that the total carbon sink capacity o terrestrial ecosystems is equivalent too setting about 50 parts per million o atmosphericcarbon dioxide out o a current total o approximately380 parts per million.

While the capacity o soil to act as a carbon sink canbe limited in quantity and time, it o ers the greatadvantage o being available right now (no need todevelop and test new technologies), well understood

(it just exploits a natural process), and not expensive,as most o the time it simply requires a change o practices that is sel - nancing in the medium term. The real challenge is to ensure that soil organicmatter management and its potential or preventingdeserti cation and contributing to climate changemitigation and adaptation is brought to the attentiono land users and policymakers, so that they can

actor that into their daily activities and into policydevelopment, respectively.

The statements made at the con erence by thePresident o the Environment Council, the EnvironmentMinister o Iceland, the Secretary o State o Portugal,the Vice-President o the Temporary Committee onClimate Change o the European Parliament, and theRapporteur on the EUs Soil Thematic Strategy in theEuropean Economic and Social Committee clearlydemonstrated the importance they attached to robustpolicies in support o soil protection in general and ormaintaining soil organic matter levels in particular.Many see the proposal by the European Commission

or a Soil Framework Directive as a power ul tool orensuring that soil can contribute to climate changemitigation and adaptation. They urged its speedyadoption by the EUs legislature.

The European Commission and the United NationsConvention to Combat Deserti cation (UNCCD)

are convinced that i we do not protect soil organicmatter in Europe and elsewhere in the world, wewill not have productive soils or long, we will notbe able to cope with prolonged water shortages, wewill not be able to cope with more requent periodso intense rain, and we will not reverse worryingland degradation and deserti cation trends. We areconvinced that the presentations and the discussionsheld at the con erence and summarised in this Reportwill provide use ul in ormation to decision and policymakers concerned with soil management at all levels.

Stavros DIMAS Luc GNACADJACommissioner or Environment Executive SecretaryEuropean Commission UN Convention to Combat Desertifcation

Brussels Bonn


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Executive Summary

The con erence on Climate change can soil make a di erence? took place in Brussels on 12 June 2008. It wasorganised by the Environment Directorate-General o the European Commission with the aim o highlightingthe link between soil and climate change, and there ore the transboundary dimension o soil degradation phe-nomena such as erosion, loss o soil organic matter and deserti cation.

Approximately 300 people attended the con erence, making up a varied audience composed o policy-makers,civil servants rom national and regional administrations, researchers, lobbyists, and o cials rom the EuropeanCommission. Most notably, the President o the Environment Council, the Environment Minister o Iceland, thePortuguese Secretary o State or Environment, the Vice-President o the Temporary Committee on ClimateChange o the European Parliament and the Rapporteur on the Soil Thematic Strategy in the European Eco-nomic and Social Committee were also in attendance.

Mr Luc Gnacadja (Executive Secretary o the United Nations Convention to Combat Deserti cation) was in theChair. He reminded the audience that very low soil organic matter levels are one o the key actors that contrib-ute to deserti cation, and that the consequences o deserti cation are devastating or the lives o so many o the worlds poorest people.

The con erence was opened by Mr Stavros Dimas (Commissioner or the Environment, European Commission),who underlined that soil organic matter is a major contributor to soil ertility, the elixir o li e in act, particularlyplant li e a concept that was echoed and taken up by many other speakers during the day. Equally importantwas the act that it is the second biggest carbon pool on the planet a ter the oceans. In the European Union(EU) alone there are more than 70 billion tonnes o organic carbon in our soils. This is a huge amount bearingin mind that the EU emits approximately 2 billion tonnes o carbon a year. He went on to say that there was aneed to protect and enhance this carbon pool. Thus, the Council needed to move orward on the proposal or aSoil Framework Directive, as the EU could not a ord to waste time and allow more and more soil organic matterto be lost rom the soil. According to Mr Dimas, this was a problem with at least a European i not a worldwidedimension, which needed a European solution.

Despite coming rom di erent countries and backgrounds, with varied scienti c interests and convictions, theoverall message that the con erence heard rom the invited leading scientists was quite unanimous: soil is parto the climate change problem, but can and must also be part o the solution. To what extent soil emittedgreenhouse gases and to what extent the processes leading to these emissions could be reduced would need

urther work be ore it can be better understood and quanti ed. But the general picture was clear by adoptingsound soil management practices, maintaining and i at all possible increasing carbon in soil can help to o -set ossil uel emissions (according to Pro essor Lal, the potential carbon sink capacity o terrestrial ecosystemsis equivalent to o setting about 50 parts per million o atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is currently in theregion o 380 parts per million).

While reminding the audience that the soil carbon pool was limited in terms o capacity and was not necessar-

ily permanent, Pro essor Smith presented a strong argument in avour o soil sequestration, and soil sequestra-tion now. This was because emissions or reduced emissions over the next 10 to 20 years will determine the kindo temperature increase rom +2 to +6C or more that the world will experience by 2100. He stressed thatall sectors o human activities LULUCF (land use, land use change, orestry) and agriculture included haveto make a contribution, hence the importance o sound soil management practices to keep or increase soilorganic matter.


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Dr Liski and Dr Freibauer underlined the importance o natural peatlands as both a repository o carbon but alsoas a potential source o methane and nitrous oxide not to mention their role in terms o water ltration andtheir rich biodiversity. In their views, protecting peatlands and helping to restore them where they are alreadydrained is the most urgent action that needs to be undertaken to reduce the huge greenhouse gas emissions

rom peat soils. Along the same lines, Dr Arrouays pointed out that preserving existing carbon stocks might bemore important than trying to create new ones.

It was remarked during the discussions that there was an urgent need to quanti y where and how much Euro-pean soils are losing organic matter. Albeit with signi cant uncertainty, it was known that soils are losing carbonand to a certain extent it was possible to estimate the amount o this loss. However, the EU was ar rom be-ing in the situation o the United Kingdom presented by Mrs Bellamy, where a soil monitoring system had beenin place or decades. Identi ying and quanti ying soil organic matter losses were undamental preconditions ore ective implementation o soil protection measures.

The panel discussion, moderated by Mr Grant Lawrence ( ormer Director in the Environment Directorate-Gen-eral o the European Commission), was introduced by a statement recorded on 4 June 2008 by Mrs NathalieKosciusko-Morizet (French Secretary o State or Ecology). She was o the opinion that soil should be includedas a mandatory accounting category or industrialised countries in any post-Kyoto agreement and that the CAPshould address climate change aspects urther and enable armers to take climate change considerations ullyinto account. She added that the proposal or a Soil Framework Directive would be on the agenda o the FrenchPresidency, since the Directive would contribute to carbon storage in soils.

Mr Janez Podobnik (Minister o the Environment and Spatial Planning o Slovenia and President o the Environ-ment Council) wondered whether Community measures to reduce the impact o climate change should notinclude permanent monitoring o re erence areas and measures or sound soil management in an e ort topreserve and increase the capacity o soil to capture carbon dioxide. He also reiterated Slovenias support orthe Soil Framework Directive and agreed with Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet on the need to restart the stalled negotia-tions.

Mrs runn Sveinbjarnardttir (Minister or the Environment o Iceland) stressed the link between the Conven-tion to Combat Deserti cation, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biodiversity,and ood security, especially in less developed countries. A common thread o all these conventions is the im-portance o soils and ecosystem services. Carbon in soils is the undamental ingredient o soil ertility and is avital part in the role o soils in ecosystem services, such as water retention.

Mr Humberto Rosa (Secretary o State or Environment o Portugal) made a passionate plea in avour o soilprotection, the importance o soil organic matter and the need to adopt the Soil Framework Directive as soonas possible, since European legislation was necessary in this eld.

Mr Vittorio Prodi (Vice-President o the Temporary Committee on Climate Change o the European Parliament)echoed Mr Rosas views and assured the audience o his personal support in making every possible e ort toarrive at a positive outcome on this legislative proposal.

Mr Sta an Nilsson (European Economic and Social Committee) recalled the opinion adopted by his Institutionin avour o European legislation on soil protection, despite the intense lobbying by armer organisations. Hementioned the importance o organic improvers and sewage sludge or maintaining su cient soil organic mat-ter levels. He called on the Commission to revise the Sewage Sludge Directive, because sewage sludge shouldbe used only i the levels o contaminants (heavy metals and organic compounds) were to be lowered.


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In his concluding remarks, Mr Jos Delbeke, Deputy Director-General o the Environment Directorate-General o the European Commission, summarised the key points to emerge rom the presentations and the discussions:

Soil was both part o the problem and o the solution or climate change. It was imperative to supportland use practices that help to maintain and i at all possible increase soil organic matter.

Soil degradation had transboundary e ects, and thus there was a need or a common European legisla-

tive ramework to tackle this phenomenon and, in particular, to nd out where soil organic matter losseswere happening, and to quanti y those losses.

It was clear that the European Union (and the world) had to adapt to climate change and that soil had acrucial role to play to secure ood and services against negative climatic conditions.

The con erence was concluded by Mr Luc Gnacadja, who underlined the importance o continuing the debateon the relationship between climate change, loss o soil organic matter and deserti cation, in a bid to reverseunsustainable trends.

The ull presentations are available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/con _en.htm


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Con erence programme

8.00 Registration desk opens

9.00 Welcome

Mr Michael Hamell, Head o Unit, Environment DG, European Commission9.05 Introduction by the Chair

Mr Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertifcation, Bonn,Germany

Key note address

9.15 Why is soil organic matter so important?Mr Stavros Dimas, Environment Commissioner, European Commission

First sessionSoil the biggest terrestrial carbon pool

9.30 The projected e ects o climate change in EuropePro essor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Vice-Chair o WG II Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability o IPCC, Pro essor at the Institut dAstronomie et de Gophysique Georges Lematre,Universit catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

10.00 The role o soil organic matter in the global carbon cyclePro essor Rattan Lal, Ohio University, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, Columbus, Ohio,United State o America

10.30 Questions and answers

11.00 Co ee break

Second sessionThe evolution o soil carbon stocks

11.30 UK losses o soil carbon due to climate change?Mrs Pat H. Bellamy, National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfeld University, United Kingdom

11.45 Emissions rom peat soilsDr Jari Liski, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Research Programme or Global Change, Helsinki,Finland

12.00 Changes in soil organic matter in relation to land use and agricultural practicesDr Dominique Arrouays, Directeur Unit In osol, INRA, Orlans, France

12.15 Emissions due to land use changes in BrazilPro essor Carlos C. Cerri, CENA-USP, Laboratrio de Biogeoqumica Ambiental, Piracicaba, Brazil


13.00 Break or lunch


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Third sessionHow to ensure that soil is part o the solution to climate change?

14.30 The role o agricultural practices in keeping or increasing soil organic matterPro essor Peter Smith, Lead Author o the IPCC Good Practice Guidelines 2006, Pro essor o Soils and Global Change, University o Aberdeen, United Kingdom

15.00 Evaluation o the potential o selected measures to reduce carbon emissions and sequester carbon inEuropean soilsDr Annette Freibauer, Co-ordinator o the EU CarboEurope-Integrated Project, Max-Planck-Institute or Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany


16.00 Co ee break

Fourth session

16.30 Panel discussion on the policy implicationsModerator:Mr Grant Lawrence, ormer Director in the Environment Directorate-General o the EuropeanCommission, BrusselsParticipants:- Mr Janez Podobnik, Minister o the Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenia- Ms runn Sveinbjarnardttir, Minister or the Environment, Iceland- Mr Humberto Rosa, Secretary o State or Environment, Portugal- Mr Vittorio Prodi, Rapporteur on the Soil Thematic Strategy and Vice-Chairman o the Temporary

Committee on Climate Change, European Parliament, Brussels- Mr Sta an Nilsson, Rapporteur on the Soil Thematic Strategy, European Economic and SocialCommittee, Brussels

Final remarks

18.00 Mr Jos Delbeke, Deputy Director-General, Environment DG, European Commission

18.10 Closing remarks by the ChairMr Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertifcation, Bonn,Germany

18.15 End o con erence

18.15- Cocktail reception

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Introduction by the ChairMr Luc Gnacadja,

Executive Secretary o the United Nations Convention to Combat Deserti cation

Excellences Mesdames et Messieurs les Ministres,

Monsieur le Commissaire lEnvironnement de la Commission europenne,

Mesdames et messieurs les experts et chercheurs,

Distingus participants,

Je voudrais avant tout propos, liciter la Direction Gnrale de lEnvironnement de la Commission europennepour cette remarquable initiative, et vous remerciez cher M. Dimas, Commissaire europen lenvironnementpour mavoir invit prsider cette con rence. Je crois quelle sera une contribution majeure dans la dynamiquencessaire pour oprer un vritable changement de paradigme dans lapproche actuelle du combat pour aire

ace aux changements climatiques qui menacent notre existence mme.

Ce changement de paradigme est une ncessit, une exigence et une urgence.

Pensez donc ! Au cours des quinze dernires dcennies, lhumanit a cr une machine in ernale en dgradant la ois le sol et latmosphre qui leur tour se dgradent rciproquement. Et pour briser ce cercle vicieux nousnavons ce jour orient nos attentions que vers latmosphre. Cest une dmarche insu sante voire mmeune voie sans issue !

Il y a urgence atteindre des objecti s plus ambitieux de rduction de nos missions de gaz e et de serre.

Il y a donc ncessit y associer tout le monde y compris ceux qui ne sont pas la cause du problme quimenace nanmoins de les emporter en premier, je veux parler des populations des pays en dveloppement.

Cest par consquent une exigence que dutiliser tout le potentiel humain ainsi que celui de la nature pourrelever les d s des changements climatiques.

So, can soil make a di erence?

In order to cope with the challenge, we need to solve a multitude o problems simultaneously. The burdeno poverty must be reduced, particularly in the rural areas. Ways and means or e ective adaptation to andmitigation o climate change, as well as or cutting urther release o carbon dioxide into the atmosphere mustbe identi ed and implemented. Provision o adequate and a ordable ood must be ensured.

In this context, the global importance o enhanced land and soil management is becoming increasingly clear.

As we shall soon hear rom a number o experts, carbon as plant organic matter is sequestered in soils.Consequently soils contain more carbon than is contained in vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Thishas important implications to considerations on climate change.

We will also hear about various methods that signi cantly enhance carbon sequestration in soil while improvingsoil properties. Although these methods are widely recognized by the scienti c community, they are yet to beapplied at a large scale, and thus provide major opportunities in increasing carbon sequestration.

Indeed, interlinkages between soil and climate change are signi cant and should be better refected in policy-making processes.


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Increased attention to land and soil in the negotiation tables on climate change would not only enrich thesubstantive and conceptual debates on e ective means or carbon sequestration. It would also provide a newand a highly interesting plat orm or developing countries to engage into the adaptation and mitigation agendas,considering that or many o them soil is the single most important capital and asset or development.

Bringing agricultural land use into the realm o implementation mechanisms on climate change could re-de nethe concept and the content o international development cooperation. The current country-driven system

would be complemented by collaboration arrangements between private sector stakeholders, with rural areasin developing countries among the bene ciaries. The political implications, as well as the increase o volume in

nancial and technological transactions targeting agriculture, as well as the improvement o the livelihood o the most vulnerable could be enormous.

However, there are yet many questions to be solved in better linking soil and climate change, particularly thoseconcerning monitoring methodologies.

Distinguished participants,

The United Nations Convention to Combat Deserti cation (UNCCD), is the sole multilateral environmentalagreement (MEA) on land and soil degradation. It is one o the so-called Rio Conventions, thus a sister

convention to the conventions on climate change and biodiversity.A positive resolve to stimulate UNCCD implementation was expressed last September in Madrid, as Partiesto the Convention adopted the 10-year strategic plan and ramework to enhance the implementation o theConvention (2008-2018). The new strategy targets the use o e ective and practical approaches to sustainableland management with synergy as a systemic approach.

The main strategic objectives are:

To improve the livelihood o a ected populations;

To improve the productivity o a ected populations;

And thirdly, my avourite, to generate global bene ts; To mobilize resource to support the implementation o the Convention through building e ective part-

nerships between national and international actors.

The decision adopting the Strategy also called or managerial and systemic re orms toward RBM (result basedmanagement) in the UNCCD processes. Those re orms imply inter alia:

Under the CST (Committee on Science and Technology), a commonly agreed and globally recognizedbaselines and indicators to monitor deserti cation, land degradation and drought;

Under the CRIC (Committee or the Review o the Implementation o the Convention), new and stand-ardized reporting guidelines or all parties and stakeholders o the Convention.

So, I trust this con erences outcomes will be valuable inputs or those re orms in progress and or improving thesynergies in the implementation o the Rio Conventions.

To all o us, I wish a very ruit ul con erence.

Thank you.


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Key Note AddressMr Stavros Dimas,

Commissioner or Environment, European Commission

Mr Chairman,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Brussels today to discuss the relationship between soil and climate change. The very large attendance o more than 400 people rom almost all Member States and beyond, including athigh political level is a clear refection o the enormous interest in the subject. It shows an increased awarenesso the need to address soil conservation and management in the light o climate change.

At the outset, I want to thank Mr Gnacadja, Executive Secretary o the United Nations Convention to CombatDeserti cation, or acting as todays Chairman. Mr Gnacadja will surely remind us that very low soil organic matterlevels are among the key actors that contribute to deserti cation, and o the consequences o deserti cation

or the lives o so many o the worlds poorest people.

But why should we in Europe be so concerned by the relationship between soil and climate change?

The key is soil organic matter . As you in this audience well know, soil organic matter is an extremely preciousresource that per orms essential unctions or the environment and or the economy, and it can do so becauseit is a whole ecosystem at a microscopic scale.

Organic matter is a major contributor to soil ertility. It is the elixir o li e, particularly plant li e, as it binds nutrientsto the soil, thus ensuring their availability to plants. It is the home or soil organisms, rom bacteria to wormsand insects, and allows them to trans orm plant residues, and hold on to nutrients that can be taken up byplants and crops. It also maintains soil structure, thereby improving water in ltration, decreasing evaporation,increasing water holding capacity and avoiding soil compaction. In addition, soil organic matter accelerates thebreak down o pollutants and can bind them to its particles, so reducing the risk o run-o .

But this is not all. Equally important is that soil organic matter is the second biggest carbon pool in the planeta ter the oceans. In the EU alone there are more than 70 billion tonnes o organic carbon in our soils. This is ahuge amount i we bear in mind that the Member States o the European Union altogether emit about 2 billiontonnes o carbon annually. Indeed, releasing to the atmosphere just a small raction o that carbon currentlystocked in our soils runs the risk o wiping out all the savings that other sectors o the economy are achievingin order to contain anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This is not a theoretical scenario, un ortunately,and some o the scientists who will speak here today will present data suggesting that large amounts o carbon

rom soil organic matter have indeed already been lost to the atmosphere in the recent past.

You may wonder, what is causing this loss o soil organic matter? This con erence today will certainly providesome answers to this question but there appear to be several varied actors contributing to losses o carbon

rom soils.

Long term changes in land management practices driven essentially by changing economic circumstances maybe among them. We have, or instance, over the past century or so, completely mechanised and streamlinedmany o our arming systems, specialising production and simpli ying management. In making these changes,most o which have brought strong socio-economic bene ts, we have taken our eyes o what is happening


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to soil. Land management approaches, largely not related to soil management, have played centre role inexpanding productivity. It now appears, that slow and gradual reductions in soil organic matter may have takenplace, almost insigni cant in themselves at eld level but very signi cant when taken as a whole in termso carbon emissions. The atmosphere, o course, makes no distinction regarding the origin o carbon dioxideinso ar as climate change is concerned.

This has to lead us rstly to examine thoroughly i and where soil organic matter is declining throughout our

territories, then to establish approaches to redress the situation and to implement these approaches so thatsoil not only retains its organic matter but, where possible becomes a sink or more carbon and there orecontributes to the ght against global warming.

But long term changes in land management are not the ull picture. Changes in rain all patterns and increasesin average temperatures brought about by climate change are also playing a role. A rise in global temperatureaccelerates carbon losses rom the soil, driving up the concentration o carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thechanges in rain all patterns will, o course, additionally contribute to an increase in erosion in vulnerable soilswhich o ten, themselves, su er rom low organic matter content. Climate change will thus put urther pressureon soil quality and will increase the risk o deserti cation, which is already a ecting the southern Member Statesand is expected to move gradually northward.

It is there ore more urgent than ever to act in avour o appropriate policies and practices that avour maintainingor even increasing soil organic matter levels. I we manage to do that and we have to do it now! we have atour disposal a ormidable tool or sequestering carbon and supporting the achievement o the targets we haveset ourselves to combat climate change. The more organic carbon we keep in or add to the soil, the less carbondioxide we will have in the atmosphere.

This will not only mitigate global warming, it will also diminish deserti cation risks, thereby sustaining agriculturalproduction and allowing us to keep eeding the ever growing world population. In this context, the currentworld ood crisis is o particular relevance. The Commission recently presented a Communication on this subjectacknowledging the many causes o the current problem. These include increased demand or commodities anddecreased supply due largely to weather related production short alls in several regions o the world. Forecasts

or uture long term trends in climate all indicate greater droughts in some areas and more rain all even toomuch in others. It is clear that we can expect weather related supply di culties to reoccur in coming decades.Long term soil management has a role to play in countering such di culties. Soil organic matter can absorb upto twenty times its weight in water and so can play a positive part in mitigating the impacts o more extremerain all intensity and more requent and severe droughts.

There ore, preserving and increasing soil organic matter levels to the extent possible can be a signi cant toolin mitigating climate change, securing our ood supply, and combating deserti cation. And our e orts willnot only improve the situation in Europe, as I am sure they will contribute to solving these problems at theglobal level as well.


Human actions taken without awareness o their long term global consequences are clearly at the root o climate change. The good news is that it is in our power to modi y this situation and to address climate change!For soil organic matter, as our knowledge grows, we can develop the opportunities to take corrective action orthe bene t o sustainable agriculture, or nature protection and to mitigate climate change.


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For example, recent re orms o the Common Agricultural Policy have begun to take steps in this direction.

Moreover, it is partly or this reason that the Commission has proposed ground breaking legislation or soil. Thisaims or the rst time in the European Union at protecting soil and the crucial unctions it plays includingacting as a carbon pool. The European Parliament has understood ully the importance o the proposal andadopted it, strongly emphasising the need or protecting soils against the negative e ects o climate change.Now the Council needs to move orward on this le, because we cannot a ord to waste time and allow that

more and more soil organic matter goes up literally in smoke. This is a problem with at least a European i not a worldwide dimension, which needs a European solution.

Furthermore, in autumn will present a White Paper on adaptation to climate change. It will show the importanceo increasing the resilience o soil to climate change and how a healthy soil, su ciently rich in organic matter,will allow our entire society and economy to better adapt to the impacts o climate change. I will ensure that theoutcome o this con erence will eed into the Commissions thinking on the relationship between soil policiesand climate change mitigation and adaptation. I express the hope that you will do the same at the national orregional level.

I began by thanking Mr Gnacadja or acting as chairman; my thanks also go to the high-level European and non-European speakers who have travelled rom as ar as Brazil or the United States to come and present the resultso their research. I am a believer in the need or policies to be based on sound scienti c advice, and todayscon erence represents a golden opportunity or the scienti c community to make its voice heard.

Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Members o the European Parliament, o theEuropean Economic and Social Committee, to the President o the Environment Council, to the PortugueseSecretary o State and to the Environment Minister o Iceland or accepting my invitation to participate in thepanel discussion that will close the con erence. I am sure they will take stock o todays deliberations and willpresent their valuable views on the policy perspectives in ront o us.


I rmly hope that this con erence will bring to the attention o a wider audience the scienti c elements

that underpin the EUs action in the elds o soil protection and climate change adaptation and mitigation.I am con dent that it will also prove to be an important milestone in the di cult road leading to a betterunderstanding o the role that soil plays in the global ecosystem and the need or greater e orts to ensure andprotect that role.

I wish you a very in ormative and constructive day, and thank you or your attention.


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Summary o presentations 1

The projected efects o climate change in EuropePro essor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele, Vice-Chair o WG II Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability o IPCC, Pro essor at the Institut dAstronomie et de Gophysique Georges Lematre, Universit catholique de Louvain,Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Pro essor van Ypersele started his presentation with an explanation o the structure and role o theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which derives its strength rom the rigorous scienti c basisused or its operations. World-class scientists are appointed as authors o the IPCC reports on the basis o theirpublication record.

According to the IPCCs Fourth Assessment Report (AR4)2, there is unequivocal evidence that the climate systemis warming up with a very high con dence that this is due to human activities since the Industrial Revolution. Asa consequence, the last 50 years are likely to have been the hottest in the past 1 300 years. Without mitigationmeasures, global temperature could increase by 1.1 to 6.4C (or even higher) by 2100 compared to 1990 and sealevels could rise by 0.18 to 0.59 m. The regions most a ected will be the Arctic, sub-Saharan A rica, small islands,and the mega-deltas. The poor, young children and the elderly will be those segments o the population to

su er most rom climate change.Concerning Europe, AR4 provides or the rst time evidence o wide-ranging impacts in the orm o the retreat o glaciers, lengthening o the growing season, shi t in species ranges, heat waves etc. and orecasts that climate-related hazards will most likely increase, with more winter foods in maritime regions, fash foods throughoutEurope, and increased sea-storm risks or 2.5 million people living in coastal areas. It is expected that Europesbiodiversity will be substantially a ected by climate change with a large percentage o European fora likelyto become vulnerable, endangered or extinct by the end o this century (e.g. up to 60% o Alpine plants areestimated to be at risk), also because options or adaptation are likely to be limited or many organisms andecosystems. Water stress will increase over central and southern Europe and will a ect more people living in riverbasins under high water stress. All this will pose challenges to many economic sectors. For instance, agriculturewill have to cope with increasing water demands in southern Europe, peak electricity demand is likely to shi tin some regions rom winter to summer months, and reduced snow cover will make skiing problematic in anumber o mountain areas.

A signi cant part o those impacts could be avoided i the global temperature increase above the pre-industriallevel could be maintained below 2C, which would need, according to the IPCC, global CO 2 emission reductions o the order o 50 to 85% by 2050 compared to 2000, and even stronger reductions or industrialised countries.

Pro essor van Ypersele concluded that appropriate mitigation measures were essential to prevent the avoidableimpacts, but that in any case adaptation would be necessary to address those that cannot be avoided.

The role o soil organic matter in the global carbon cyclePro essor Rattan Lal, Ohio University, Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, Columbus, Ohio, USAPro essor Lal reminded the audience o some acts and gures concerning our carbon civilisation. Global energydemand increased rom 220 EJ 3 in 1970 to 428 EJ in 2001, and is projected to increase to 660 EJ by 2025. Theprice o oil increased rom $25/barrel in 2000 to $135/barrel in 2008. Increases in energy demand and oil priceshave a strong impact on atmospheric levels o carbon dioxide, which have increased rom 280 parts per million(ppm) in the pre-industrial era to 385 ppm in 2008, and on world ood insecurity, which is a ecting about 1billion people globally and increasing.

1) The ull presentations are available at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/con _en.htm.2) http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm.3) EJ (exajoule) = 1018 J.


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Carbon sequestration in soil and terrestrial ecosystems can contribute to climate change mitigation and alsopromote ood security by enhancing agronomic production and input e ciency. The adoption o recommendedmanagement practices (e.g. no-till in conjunction with mulching and cover cropping, integrated nutrientmanagement to create a positive nutrient budget, use o biochar, complex crop rotations, and water harvestingand recycling with drip/ urrow irrigation) can sequester carbon in soil at a rate o 200 to 1 000 kg/ha/y with atotal potential o 1 billion tonnes o carbon per year in agricultural soils (between 70 and 190 million tonnes orwestern Europe). The total carbon sink capacity o terrestrial ecosystems can o set about 50 ppm o atmosphericcarbon dioxide.

Removal o crop residues or bio uel can adversely impact soil quality and create a large soil carbon debt. Ratherthan using crop residues, the conversion o degraded and agriculturally marginal soils to energy plantation(e.g. switch grass, miscanthus, poplar, willow), and growing algae and cyanobacteria in bioreactors are possiblestrategies to produce biomass or bio uel production.

Restoring degraded and deserti ed soils through carbon sequestration is also essential to improve soil qualityand increase agronomic production especially in sub-Saharan A rica and South Asia. Increasing the soil organiccarbon pool by 1 000 t C/ha/y can enhance ood production in sub-Saharan A rica by 3.3 to 5.4 million tonnesper year or ood grains and 3.0 to 6.2 million tonnes per year or roots and tubers.

However, poor armers and small land-holders (< 2 ha) can neither a ord the prohibitively expensive inputs norcan they be sure o their e ectiveness. Paying armers or ecosystem services (e.g. carbon sequestration, waterquality improvement, biodiversity enhancements) can create the much needed income streams to acilitate theadoption o recommended practices. The carbon market may reach $1 trillion by 2020 and must be promotedto pay or ecosystem services provided by armers in sub-Saharan A rica and South Asia. Pro essor Lal thoughtthis to be a win-win-win option.

UK losses o soil carbon due to climate change?Mrs Pat H. Bellamy, National Soil Resources Institute, Cranfeld University, United Kingdom

Mrs Bellamy presented the context o her research. More than twice as much carbon is held in soils as in

vegetation or the atmosphere, and changes in soil carbon content can have a large e ect on the global carbonbudget. The possibility that climate change is being rein orced by increased carbon dioxide emissions rom soilsowing to rising temperature is the subject o a continuing debate. But evidence or the suggested eedback mechanism has to date come solely rom small-scale laboratory and eld experiments and modelling studies.

Turning to the results o her research, Mrs Bellamy said that data rom the National Soil Inventory o Englandand Wales obtained between 1978 and 2003 showed that carbon was lost rom soils across England and Walesover the survey period at a mean rate o 0.6% per year (relative to existing soil carbon content). Scaling up theresults to the United Kingdom, it was estimated that 13 million tonnes o carbon were lost every year romBritish soils. As a comparison, industrial carbon emissions in the United Kingdom had allen by no more than 13million tonnes since 1990. It was ound that the relative rate o carbon loss increased with soil carbon contentand was more than 2% per year in soils with carbon contents greater than 100 g/kg. The relationship betweenrate o carbon loss and carbon content is irrespective o land use, suggesting a link to climate change. These

ndings indicate that losses o soil carbon in England and Wales and by in erence in other temperate regions are likely to be o setting the absorption o carbon by terrestrial sinks.

To investigate the possible causes o the measured losses o soil carbon, simple models o soil carbon turnoverwere applied to evaluate alternative explanations or the observed trends. It was ound that neither changes indecomposition resulting rom the e ects o climate change on soil temperature and moisture, nor changes incarbon input rom vegetation, could account on their own or the overall trends. Regarding other explanations,


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results so ar indicate that past changes in land use and management have probably been dominant. Theclimate change signal, such as it is, is masked by these other changes.

Mrs Bellamy concluded by saying that more sophisticated models o carbon change were currently beingdeveloped to represent the whole range o soils in England and Wales. These models were being validatedusing the National Soil Inventory data and would allow a more precise estimation o the contribution o climatechange to the change in soil carbon observed in the National Soil Inventory data.

Emissions rom peat soilsDr Jari Liski, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Research Programme or Global Change, Helsinki, Finland

Dr Liski presented some gures concerning the role o peatlands rom the climate perspective. Peatlandscontain between 15 and 30% o all soil carbon (between 250 and 460 billion tonnes compared to a global soilcarbon pool o 2 300 billion tonnes), which is equivalent to 30-60% o the carbon present in the atmosphere(760 billion tonnes) as carbon dioxide. In terms o emissions, peatlands are responsible or 20-40% o globalmethane emissions (70-90% o natural emissions), whereas nitrous oxide emissions are usually limited (except

or nutrient-rich ens). Given their large carbon pool, a hypothetical loss o 1% o peat carbon would equal 30-60% o annual ossil carbon emissions. Almost hal o European peatlands is still in a natural condition, while the

other hal has been converted to agriculture (50%), orestry (30%), extraction (10%), and urbanisation (10%).In the EU-25, peatlands emit 21 million tonnes o carbon as carbon dioxide equivalent, which corresponds toabout 1-2% o European anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, amounting to around 1.4 billion tonnes o carbon. Although peatlands are net emitters in each Member State, emissions depend on peatland type andtheir use in each Member State. As a general rule, bogs (nutrient-poor peatland) have the lowest emissions i used or orestry or are restored and the highest emissions i abandoned a ter harvest, put under permanentgrass or used as arable land. Fens (nutrient-rich peatland) have the lowest emissions when restored or used or

orestry and the highest under grassland or arable land.

Dr Liski concluded his presentation by stating that despite their emissions, natural peatlands should be protectedand maintained to avoid large carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that

the conversion o natural peatlands to other land uses has long-term impacts that need to be considered overan appropriate (long) time- rame when estimating the consequences.

Changes in soil organic matter in relation to land use and agricultural practicesDr Dominique Arrouays, Directeur Unit In osol, INRA, Orlans, France

Dr Arrouays outlined the our ways in which carbon can be managed, starting with the xation o carbon byplants through photosynthesis, the use o this carbon by vegetation, the production o litter when plants die,and nally the soil carbon stock.

In the case o France, the soil carbon stock has been estimated at 3.1 billion tonnes in the 0-30 cm layer withlarge variations depending on land cover, ranging rom 30 tonnes o carbon per hectare or vineyards andorchards to more than 90 tonnes per hectare or mountain grassland and peatland.

Concerning land cover changes, Dr Arrouays drew the attention o the audience to the act that the conversiono arable land to grassland or orestry increased carbon stocks, whereas conversion the other way rounddecreased soil carbon twice as rapidly as the accumulation resulting rom a orestation. As or other actorsinfuencing soil carbon stocks, reduced or no tillage, continuous soil cover, temporary vs permanent grassland,and potential variations in soil and climate were particularly relevant. Some inherent soil properties, such as claycontent, were also main controlling actors in carbon stabilisation.


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Summing up, Dr Arrouays stated that managing soil carbon stocks was possible, but that preserving existingstocks was more important than creating new stocks, as the extension over space and the sustainability overtime o some practices leading to soil carbon accumulation were limited. Moreover, soil as a carbon sink wasonly a nite answer to mitigation.

Emissions due to land use changes in Brazil

Pro essor Carlos C. Cerri, CENA-USP, Laboratrio de Biogeoqumica Ambiental, Piracicaba, Brazil Pro essor Cerri presented the data orwarded to the United Nations Framework Convention to Combat ClimateChange (UNFCCC) on Brazilian greenhouse gas emissions, with particular emphasis on the soil contribution.Brazilian soils are an important carbon pool, containing about 36 billion tonnes o carbon in the 0-30 cm layer,approximately 5% o the world soil carbon stock.

Data or 1994 showed that land use, land use changes and orestry (LULUCF) accounted or 75% o carbondioxide emissions (with about 68% attributed to de orestation and 7% to soil carbon losses), 14% o methaneemissions and 2% o nitrous oxide emissions. These gures set apart Brazil rom industrialised countries, becauseonly 25% o carbon dioxide emissions were due to ossil uel combustion compared to 78% at global level.Mean annual emissions rom Brazilian soils in the period 1975-1995 were estimated to have been around 46.4

million tonnes o carbon dioxide (equivalent to 12.6 million tonnes o carbon).Pro essor Cerri thought that, thanks to changes in agricultural practices (no tillage or cultivation, no burning orharvesting, and better management o degraded land), Brazilian soils may now be a net sink.

The role o agricultural practices in keeping or increasing soil organic matterPro essor Peter Smith, Lead Author o the IPCC Good Practice Guidelines 2006, Pro essor o Soils and Global Change,University o Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Pro essor Smith presented key gures concerning the global carbon cycle and emphasised that soils canincrease their amount o organic carbon or lose it depending on the land management practices adopted.Soil carbon sequestration can be achieved by increasing inputs (e.g. through the use o organic amendments,

residue management and increased plant carbon input) or by reducing the losses, or instance by restoring andrewetting drained peatlands.

Agricultural lands take up about 40-50% o the Earths land sur ace. Considering all gases, the global technicalmitigation potential or agriculture (excluding ossil uel o sets rom biomass) by 2030 is estimated to be about5.5-6 billion tonnes o carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Economic potentials are estimated to be 1.5-1.6, 2.5-2.7, and 3.1-3.3 billion tonnes o carbon dioxide equivalent per year at carbon prices o up to $20, $50 and $100per tonne o carbon dioxide equivalent, respectively.

However, even at $100 per tonne o carbon dioxide, the sequestration potential will not exceed 1 billion tonneso carbon per year. As atmospheric carbon dioxide is increasing at a rate o 3.2 billion tonnes o carbon peryear, soil sequestration can thus mitigate less than one third o this increase or less than one seventh o carbonemissions due to ossil uel burning.

Nevertheless, according to IPCC scenarios, the world is right now at a critical point that will determine thetrajectory o temperature change up to 2100. All the possible mitigation measures available should beexploited. Despite the act that soil carbon sequestration is o limited duration (due to sink saturation) and thatthe response o soil carbon sinks to uture climate change remains uncertain, soil carbon sequestration is aglobally signi cant climate mitigation measure, also because agricultural/soil-carbon management strategies

4) http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/global-carbon-cycle.html.


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are cost-competitive with mitigation measures in other sectors.

Pro essor Smith concluded by stating that carbon sequestration through improved soil management had a keyrole to play in climate mitigation and needed to be applied very soon in order or it to play a role in avoidingdangerous climate change.

Evaluation o the potential o selected measures to reduce carbon emissions and sequester carbon inEuropean soilsDr Annette Freibauer, Co-ordinator o the EU CarboEurope-Integrated Project, Max-Planck-Institute or Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

Dr Freibauer started her presentation by reminding everyone that to assess e ective mitigation options the ullgreenhouse gas budget needed to be considered, as ocusing only on carbon dioxide would miss at least hal o the contribution o European soils to climate change.

Functionally, the European biosphere is comparable with a sponge that is ar rom being saturated. Some poresare currently lling up, while others are leaking carbon at a rate almost equal to that o the carbon being added,resulting in only minor changes in the total content o the sponge. To ll up the sponge at a aster rate, i.e.enhance the net carbon sink, management policies should ocus on three aspects: a) ensuring that the poresthat are currently lling up continue to ll up (managed orests and grasslands); b) reducing losses rom leakingpores (drained peatlands); and c) reducing the pressure on the pores that are almost saturated (mitigationoptions or arable soils).

Four strategies or improving the soil carbon balance should be pursued. Firstly, emissions o carbon dioxide,methane and nitrous oxide should be reduced. This is mostly relevant or drained peatlands and intensivelymanaged agricultural lands. Secondly, carbon should be sequestered permanently. Stable humus currentlyaccounts or only 1% o the carbon input to the soil, unless complex recalcitrant organic substances (e.g.charcoal) are added. Thirdly, ertility should be enhanced by putting more organic residues into the soil. Finally,soil resilience should be ensured by improving water holding capacity and erosion control.

Carbon sequestration by switching rom annual crops to perennials or by introducing more organic amendments(and doing this more e ectively), runs completely counter to current trends rom grassland to cropland and thegrowing demand or biomass/bioenergy. Perennial crops or renewable material and biomass could sequesteradditional soil carbon. This opportunity is currently missed by armers pre erence or annual crops. Speci cincentives to grow perennials are urgently needed.

Greenhouse gas emissions rom soil can be reduced. Most urgently, nitrous oxide rom agricultural soils andcarbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions rom drained peatlands need to be addressed. Priorities or climatechange mitigation should ocus on hotspot regions and soil types where the emissions are highest andreductions there ore measurable.

Despite the act that there were still open questions and research needs, Dr Freibauer considered that threemeasures to enhance soil resilience and help mitigate climate change should be promoted at European levelas a priority. Firstly, the restoration o drained peatlands, which had a theoretical mitigation potential o 50-100million tonnes o carbon dioxide equivalent per year, i.e. 1 to 2% o emissions in the EU-25. Moreover, peatlandrestoration had also strong synergies with biodiversity conservation and water management. Secondly,advances in ertiliser use in nitrous oxide-sensitive regions, although the e ect was not yet quanti able at thisstage. Thirdly, incentives or using perennials or the production o biomass and bioenergy.


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Summary o panel members contributions

Mrs Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Secretary o State or Ecology, France(contribution recorded on 4 June 2008)

In her recorded statement, Mrs Kosciusko-Morizet thanked Mr Dimas or organising the con erence, which shethought most timely and appropriate. Timely because the climate change and energy package presented bythe Commission in January 2008 would be a priority or the French Presidency. Appropriate because soil shouldbe included as a mandatory accounting category or industrialised countries in any post-Kyoto agreement.

The con erence would there ore be instrumental in presenting important scienti c data in orming thatdiscussion. Despite existing methodological problems, the contribution o all greenhouse gases linked withsoil and agricultural activities, including nitrous oxide and methane, should be considered. In this context, theCAP should address climate change issues to a greater extent and better enable armers to take climate changeconsiderations ully into account.

She went on to say that the French Presidency was eagerly awaiting the European Commissions adoption o the White Paper on adapting to climate change in November 2008, which would be one o its priorities. Sheadded that the proposal or a Soil Framework Directive would eature in the calendar o the French Presidency,because the Directive would make a contribution to carbon storage in soils.

Mr Janez Podobnik, Minister o the Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenia

Mr Podobnik remarked that in Slovenia, too, there was growing awareness o the importance o organic matterin soil. However, given the rise in average temperature over recent years, the higher requency o drought, andagricultural production methods, it was estimated that the organic matter content o soil on intensively armedland was alling.

In order to understand the complex relationship between human activities and their consequences or theenvironment, it was necessary to have high quality, comparable and compatible data. Good-quality assessments

o trends could be obtained rom permanent and systematic monitoring o organic matter on the same landwith the same type o soil use. This should be done on a comparable basis at Community level.

Mr Podobnik wondered whether it would not be wise to consider including permanent monitoring o re erenceareas and measures or appropriate soil management to preserve and increase the capacity o soil to capturecarbon dioxide in Community measures to reduce the impact o climate change. He would also avour goinga step urther and trying to harmonise the target values or organic matter content in soil, nevertheless takingaccount o the diversity o natural conditions across the Community.

In order to increase the quantity o organic matter in the soil, it was necessary to ensure sustainable practiceon the part o all soil users, and in particular to encourage agriculture and orestry to engage in sustainablepractice, and to advocate rational planning o land use that reduces the capacity o soil to capture carbon

dioxide by as little as possible.In the past, Europe had made a decisive contribution to improving the quality o air and o sur ace and groundwater. Mr Podobnik thought that Europe must adopt a similar approach to soil protection. The activities set outin the Soil Thematic Strategy and the proposal or a Soil Framework Directive were appropriate and necessary,


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and Slovenia was in avour o continuing negotiations until agreement was reached on the adoption o theproposal.

Mr Podobnik concluded by saying that in Europe there was a need or systematic and harmonised monitoringo the quantity o organic matter in soil. In addition, sustainable orms o soil use should be supported in orderto accelerate the capture o carbon dioxide in soil.

Mrs Sveinbjarnardttir, Minister or the Environment, Iceland

Mrs Sveinbjarnardttir began by outlining Icelands role in the development and implementation o UnitedNations conventions on the environment.

Iceland had a long history o severe land degradation and deserti cation and was the home o the longest-standing organised e orts to combat deserti cation and restore natural resources in the world. Currently, 40%o Iceland was covered by desert, and a large proportion o the remaining area was severely degraded. Forestscovered only 1.2% o the country. It was among the most severely degraded countries in the world. However,Iceland had recorded remarkable achievements in halting deserti cation and restoring ertility and ecosystemservices in the last ten decades and had celebrated 100 years o such activities in 2007 with a number o localand international events.

The link between the Convention to Combat Deserti cation (UNCCD), the Framework Convention to CombatClimate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biodiversity (UNCBD), and ood security, especially in lessdeveloped countries, was stressed. A common thread in all o the conventions was the importance o soilsand ecosystem services. Carbon in soils was the undamental ingredient o soil ertility and o the role o soilsin ecosystem services such as water retention. It was important to note that there was more carbon stored insoils than in vegetation and the atmosphere combined; soils contained 82% o the active terrestrial carbon. Asubstantial proportion o todays greenhouse gases in the atmosphere originated rom carbon and nitrogencompounds rom soils, due to over-exploitation o soil resources. Further climatic changes might accelerate therelease o carbon rom soils, especially rom the Arctic.

However, Mrs Sveinbjarnardttir stressed that a signi cant part o atmospheric greenhouse gases could bereturned to soils and ecosystems, and by doing so, increase their ertility and biodiversity and promote oodproduction. Mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration by trees had received disproportionateattention in comparison, bearing in mind the possible bene ts o carbon sequestration and ood securityassociated with restoring degraded lands. This bias, one might call it, was evident in the Kyoto Protocol, and inthe makeup o many scienti c groups dealing with carbon sequestration, and in many international decisionsand negotiation outcomes. Trees were important, and so was the task o saving orests and sequestering carbonin new ones. There was, however, an urgent need to observe and understand the broader picture: the soil,and the linkage between returning carbon to soil rom the atmosphere, increasing biodiversity, increasing

ood production, and ensuring that the Earths ecosystems worked. Iceland was using land restoration, and inparticular that o soils, to balance greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Conventionto Combat Climate Change.

In conclusion, Mrs Sveinbjarnardttir stressed the need to strengthen the synergies between the internationalconventions or the bene t o the global environment, the restoration o degraded ecosystems, sustainable useo the Earths resources, and securing ood or mankind.


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Mr Humberto Rosa, Secretary o State or Environment, Portugal

Mr Rosa began his intervention by stressing that soil could make a signi cant di erence not only to climatechange, but also to avoiding deserti cation and to promoting biodiversity and ecosystem services, whichmeant that soil management was closely linked to all these areas.

In terms o legal protection and political ocus, soil had been a neglected natural resource, and yet it was a

complex entity, a rich and diverse ecosystem slowly accumulating over millennia, su ering rom pollution anddegradation processes. It ormed the basis or sustaining other values and resources, such as the metaboliccapacity o the ecosystems that overlay it. In spite o this, it was not being given the same consideration as

orests or sh stocks, and it did not have the charisma o endangered species and ecosystems. Soil tended to betaken or granted, as i it was eternal.

Recalling several cases o societies in human civilisation which, according to todays knowledge, had declined orcollapsed due to environmental actors or unsustainable action (e.g. in Yucatan, on several Paci c Islands, and inGreenland), Mr Rosa stressed that these actors were generally related to de orestation, soil loss or degradation.When arriving in a new environment, humans had shown an invariable trend to corrupt natural capital, includingsoils, without much awareness o the consequences o their actions, and o ten ended up su ering the costs.

There was now knowledge and awareness that the world was our island, and that there were no other places towhich one could emigrate to avoid global environmental problems such as climate change. We were all aware o the consequences o our actions and there ore there was no longer any excuse or not addressing environmentalproblems. Mr Rosa drew attention to the worrying worldwide acceleration o soil degradation, namely in termso erosion, salinisation, sealing and compaction, and stressed the need to re orm or adapt land use practices toprevent this acceleration and, alternatively, to oster practices that actually promoted soil preservation, therebycontributing to carbon dioxide storage, maintenance o biodiversity and water retention.

Pointing to good examples o agricultural practices, Mr Rosa reported that recently he had witnessed theresults o planting perennial biodiverse grasslands in Mediterranean ecosystems. By applying an adequate mixo seeds, including nitrogen- xing plants, quite astonishing multiple-win results could be achieved, such as(i) increasing productivity (the number o sheep per hectare had risen rom one to eight), (ii) increasing soilorganic matter rom 0.2% per year to 10% per year, (iii) capturing 5 tonnes o carbon dioxide per hectare peryear, (iv) abandoning the use o chemical ertilisers, (v) increasing biodiversity and (vi) reducing the risks andconsequences o orest res.

At EU level, not enough was being done about soil protection. Although di erent Community policiescontributed to soil protection, particularly environment and agriculture policy, they ell a long way short o addressing the threats to soil. Beyond climate change, soil degradation had a substantial impact on other areaso common interest to the Community, such as water, human health, nature and biodiversity protection, and

ood sa ety. For these reasons, Mr Rosa clearly stated the need or an EU Directive to protect and preserve soiland called on the French Presidency o the Council to resume negotiations and pursue a political agreementon this issue.

Addressing the issue o carbon capture and storage (CCS), Mr Rosa re erred to it as a use ul tool o a transitionalnature; however, the world would need ecological engineering to redistribute carbon dioxide into compartmentsother than the atmosphere and degraded land had to be restored in order to provide ecosystem services andcontribute to carbon dioxide sequestration, in particular through re orestation.


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Addressing the increasing reduction o organic matter in the soil, Mr Rosa pointed out that in contrast therewas an excess o organic matter where it was not wanted, such as in urban waste, sewage and manure, andchallenged the participants to consider ways o managing waste in order to return organic matter to the soil ina convenient way. He went on to say that the participants should refect on the possibility o incorporating soilcarbon units in the Kyoto Protocol along the same lines as those or orest sequestration, while recognising thatthis last suggestion would be a signi cant test to monitoring methodologies.

In conclusion, Mr Rosa expressed both the wish and the conviction that the EU should lead and show the wayon soil protection and soil use or climate change mitigation, taking on a major role in helping to prevent thedegradation o natural capital, in the orm o soil, and instead restoring soil or the sake o increased ecosystemservices.

Mr Vittorio Prodi, Rapporteur on the Soil Thematic Strategy and Vice-Chairman o the Temporary Committee on Climate Change, European Parliament, Brussels

Mr Prodi underlined the importance o a systemic approach in dealing with soil and climate. It was a wellknown act that with climate change, Europe would experience more intense and longer periods o drought,and rain all patterns would be disrupted, resulting in less snow but more fooding and erosion. To address these

problems it was crucial to ensure that water was retained where it ell, so as to stop rivers rom overfowing andreplenish water tables. This meant that we must look a ter the land and maintain it well, bearing in mind thesystemic role that soil per ormed in terms o carbon sink.

On climate change, there was a need to adapt to its e ects and adopt appropriate mitigation measures.Revenues rom the ETS5 should be partially dedicated to managing soils and adapting to climate change.Emissions nowadays averaged 5 tonnes o carbon dioxide per person per year. Cutting that amount to 1 tonneper person by 2050 was necessary to avoid the catastrophic e ects o increased carbon dioxide concentrationin the atmosphere.

The Soil Framework Directive had, in this context, an important role to play, because it was based on a systemicapproach to maintaining and improving soil quality. In this way soils would be made more resilient against

deserti cation and their potential to act as a carbon sink would be ully exploited.Mr Prodi concluded by saying that some Member States took the view that soil did not move and that, there ore,individual Member States should maintain their sovereignty over it. In reality, soil quality and soil degradationwere o a transnational nature. He had ought and would continue ghting in the European Parliament or theSoil Framework Directive because o the importance o healthy soils or mankind.

Mr Stafan Nilsson, Rapporteur on the Soil Thematic Strategy, European Economic and Social Committee, Brussels

Mr Nilsson noted that the positive opinion o the European Economic and Social Committee, an advisory bodyo the European Institutions, on the Soil Thematic Strategy and on the proposal or a Soil Framework Directive

had been adopted almost unanimously (only two votes against). That had not been an easy outcome to secure,because certain Member States and stakeholders (e.g., armers organisations) would only support a non-bindingstrategy.

5) Editors Note: ETS stands or the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme.More in ormation at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission/index_en.htm.


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When the European Commission had presented the legislative proposal, great emphasis had been put onidenti ying soil degradation due to bad agricultural practices and contamination. Now it appeared that therewas also a strong link with climate change that should have been better communicated.

Soil quality and soil carbon were also linked with the use o sewage sludge. Despite a lengthy stakeholderconsultation, the European Commission had ailed to present a proposal or revision o the existing SewageSludge Directive 86/278/EEC. This Directive contained limits on heavy metals that were not enough strict to

reassure sludge users. Mr Nilsson stated that he would maintain his opposition to the use o sludge in agricultureuntil the limits in the Directive were considerably lowered.

Turning to the health check on the Common Agricultural Policy, Mr Nilsson held the view that the increase inunding or agri-environment measures co- nanced by Member States would increase year by year through

modulation. Thus, there would be more scope or promoting and unding environmental programmes toprotect soil and increase carbon stocks.

As a nal remark, Mr Nilsson stated that the link between soil and climate change highlighted by the con erenceshould convince everyone o the need to go orward with the Soil Framework Directive.


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Final RemarksMr Jos Delbeke,

Deputy Director-General, Environment Directorate-General, European Commission

Mr Chairman,


Following todays most thought ul scienti c presentations and the lively exchange o views among thedistinguished members o the panel that we have heard, let me attempt to draw some conclusions theCommission would take out o todays con erence.

Firstly, there has been agreement on the act that soil is part o the climate change problem, but can also be parto the solution. To what extent soil is emitting greenhouse gases and to what extent the processes leading tothese emissions can be reduced will need urther work to be better understood and quanti ed. But the generalpicture is clear through the adoption o appropriate soil management practices, maintaining carbon in soiland i at all possible increasing it can contribute to o setting ossil uel emissions.

According to Pro essor Lal, total carbon sink capacity o terrestrial ecosystems is equivalent to o -setting about50 parts per million o atmospheric carbon dioxide. Although the carbon sequestration potential rom soilmay only be one seventh o ossil uel emissions, Pro essor Smith has presented a strong argument in avouro soil sequestration, and soil sequestration now. At the same time, Dr Liski and Dr Freibauer have power ullyunderlined the importance o natural peatlands as both a repository o carbon but also as a potential source o methane and nitrous oxide not to mention their role in terms o water ltration and their rich biodiversity. Intheir views, protecting peatlands and promoting their restoration where already drained would constitute themost urgent action to undertake or reducing the huge greenhouse gas emissions rom peat soils. Along thisline, Dr Arrouays has pointed out that preserving existing carbon stocks might be more important than tryingto create new ones.

All this points in the direction o the need to step up our e orts at EU level or ensuring that organic matter iskept in our soils and that best practices are progressively introduced to minimise, in particular, nitrous oxideemissions rom agriculture. The gures mentioned by Pro essor Cerri or Brazil are particularly reassuring, as itseems that negative trends can indeed be changed.

In any case, we cannot a ord to disregard the role that soil plays in the global carbon and nitrogen cycles!

And this leads me to the second message we will take out rom the con erence.

Albeit with signi cant uncertainties, we know that European soils are losing carbon, and to a certain extent we are able to estimate the amount o this loss. However, we are ar rom the situation or the United Kingdompresented by Mrs Bellamy, where a soil monitoring system has been in place or decades. I think there is a needto start working all together European Commission, Member States, research community or adopting acommon legislative ramework or soil protection in the EU that will allow us to gather more in ormation andthere ore manage the soil carbon pool in the most e cient way.

The relationship between soil and climate change is an issue o global consequences and has enormoustransboundary impacts. Hence the progress done in soil protection in one Member States de nitely hasconsequences or another Member State. Thus, there is an urgency to act at EU level.


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Not surprisingly, I will here echo what Mr Dimas already said this morning the Commission has already doneits job in putting orward a proposal or a Soil Framework Directive! This proposal will lead Member States toidenti y where soil organic matter decline is happening in their territory. This will be the rst step or building aknowledge base necessary or addressing the important challenge o climate change in relation to soil.

What Mr Prodi has said today has clearly shown the commitment o the European Parliament to go orwardwith the proposal. It has the support o civil society, here represented by Mr Nilsson o the European Economic

and Social Committee. Twenty two Member States including Slovenia and Portugal, which made enormouse orts or an agreement during its Presidency are behind it. We now need all Member States to acknowledgethe need to tackle soil protection at EU level. The blocking minority in the Council should realise the widerbene t that the Soil Framework Directive will bring, also in terms o adapting our economies to climate change.In this context, I take note with satis action o the commitment made by the French Secretary o State, MrsKosciusko-Morizet, to continue the discussions on the proposal under the French Presidency.

Which brings me to the third message that the Commission will take out o this con erence the need to adaptto climate change and the role that soil can play in it.

Pro essor van Ypersele earlier this morning has very orce ully reminded us o the conclusions o theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concerning Europe. Climate-related hazards will increase andclimate change is likely to magni y regional di erences. Water stresses will exacerbate deserti cation risks alsoin areas currently not subject to it. The issue is there ore not i but how we are going to adapt to an increase inaverage temperatures, changes in rain all patterns, increased fooding risks, longer droughts, and so on.

I believe that what we have heard today demonstrates that soil organic matter has a big role to play, a role thatgoes o ten unnoticed. Pro essor Lal has attempted to put a gure on such a role, in terms o the societal valueo soil carbon. While we could discuss endlessly about the assumptions used to come up with such a gure, itis evident that a healthy soil with an optimum structure will be more resilient to negative climatic conditions.Which is the point also made by Minister Sveinbjarnardttir during the panel discussion.


Let me close my intervention with three important points.I trust that todays con erence will be instrumental in raising the awareness about soil and its relationship withclimate change, and that you will become ambassadors o this relationship in your countries.

I trust that the presentations and the discussions you have heard will be help ul in shaping your contribution at whatever level that might be or better soil organic matter management across Europe.

Finally, as we need to achieve better soil organic matter management, I trust that you ully share with me theurgency o adopting legislation on soil protection at EU level and make your voice heard back home!

On a more mundane note, a ter the closing remarks by Mr Gnacadja, you are all invited to a drink reception,courtesy o the European Commission, to complete this ruit ul but long day.

Thank you or your attention.


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Can Soil Make a Difference