Announcement
Upcoming event of the Climate-Soil Community of Practice
Following the success of the last event, we are pleased to announce that GIZ and the "4 per 1000" Initiative will organize another event for the Climate-Soil Community of Practice (CoP) in the second half of April.
The event will give you the opportunity to share experiences and network on a specific topic. The topic will be determined by CoP members. Below is a list of topics suggested at the last meeting. Please help us select the topic for the upcoming April event by visiting the voting page on the "4 per 1000" initiative electronic platform.
Please note that you must register for the CoP and log in to participate in the poll.
If you are already registered for the CoP and have a login for this platform, you can go directly to the poll:
If you are not yet registered and do not have a login, please follow the link below to register. We will send you a confirmation with your login within two business days.
Please feel free to share this announcement with your networks.
Proposed Topics
Biochar
- Biochar and its proven long-term effects on soil productivity and soil C – and potential knowledge gaps: This topic could go first, in order to inform ICRAF, NGO partners of ProSoil India, and ICRISAT before they start their piloting field trials. Possibly they can do some adjustments of their upcoming research work, if needed.
- Biochar II: results from ICRAF and potential transfer to other countries (country packages of ProSoil), biochar and VCM (feasibility study from India).
Soil-climate nexus and livelihoods
- Impacts of land management on farm income and livelihoods, which increase SOC: Well documented, short-term and long-term effects on C, income, yields, experiences by farmers
- Practical guidance how to sequester C, given economic and other constraints of land users
Monitoring climate benefits of sustainable land management, in particular SOC
- Remote sensing based monitoring of larger areas
- Teach farmers to do monitoring (visual, cell phone apps) in the field
Financing
- Voluntary carbon markets for soil organic carbon projects
- Financing of SLM and C sequestration in soils beyond carbon markets
Policy coherence
- Alignment of soil, agriculture, and climate policies
- Experiences of bringing soil (SOC) and SLM into NDCs and/or SDG monitoring
The larger picture
- Linkages between FLR (Bonn Challenge) and our soil-climate nexus: The Bonn Challenge explicitly aims at climate change mitigation and adaptation through restoration of ecosystems and SLM. FLR needs finance as well so that profitable value chains (see below) and/or climate finance could help FLR and thereby C sequestration.
- Linkages between circular economy, soil C, and climate: Circular economy / bio-economy could help to foster SLM and building up SOC, as profitable value chains based on SLM are built. Circular economy / bio-economy also might be a competitor for biomass, which is not available for C sequestration. These relationships should be explored.
- Phosphorus as driver for more biomass: SOC originates from biomass. If a system lacks biomass, SOC will remain low. Therefore, biomass growth needs to be increased, which in many places needs more plant available nutrients. In many tropical areas, P is a challenge and its potential for more biomass growth and subsequent C sequestration as well as its just distribution should be explored.
About the CoP
Nature and Purpose
Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. This CoP is composed of professionals working in development cooperation who are dealing with issues related to the climate-soil nexus.
Background
Healthy soils are vital for our environment and food systems. They are fundamental for food security and biodiversity, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and help with adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change. Nature-based Solutions that increase the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) can significantly reduce the CO2-concentration in the atmosphere related to human activity, while contributing to fertile soils and suitable habitats for micro and macro fauna. Herewith, they are a crucial element to meet the targets of international agendas, like the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Even though the potential of sustainable land management (SLM) and soil carbon is increasingly recognized at the international level, upscaling of soil-carbon practices on a broader scale is not yet achieved.
Objective
Together with the "4 per 1000" Initiative, we want to promote awareness of the climate potential of sustainable land management and soil-carbon practices and identify concrete pathways for improvement and implementation. Specifically, we want to advocate increased and concrete consideration of soil organic carbon in relevant interventions and politicy processes, such as the National Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The "Climate-Soil Community of Practice" (CoP) aims to disseminate information on successful land management and soil carbon projects, highlight good practices for overcoming adoption barriers and strengthen the case for sustainable land management as a key to effective climate action. While "4 per 1000" facilitates related activities at the global level, this "Community of Practice" (CoP) focuses on the development cooperation context.
Format
This CoP provides a space for actors to exchange knowledge and experience, to present their work, to learn from each other and to develop partnerships. The process for their development is catalyzed by a series of events on selected topics. In cooperation with "4 per 1000", we will provide a platform for follow-up and networking for project development.
