Article CC BY 4.0
refereed
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Carbon sequestration in soils and climate change mitigation - Definitions and pitfalls

GND
133730549
ORCID
0000-0001-7046-3332
Affiliation
Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Braunschweig, Germany
Don, Axel;
GND
1240252684
ORCID
0000-0002-6176-0017
Affiliation
Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Braunschweig, Germany
Seidel, Felix;
ORCID
0000-0002-7245-9852
Affiliation
Climate and Agriculture Group, Agroscope, Zurich, Switzerland
Leifeld, Jens;
ORCID
0000-0002-1751-007X
Affiliation
Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Upsala, Sweden
Kätterer, Thomas;
ORCID
0000-0003-2041-932X
Affiliation
Info&Sols Unit, INRAE, Orléans, France
Martin, Manuel;
ORCID
0000-0003-4388-8460
Affiliation
ISPA, Bordeau Sciences Agro, INRAE, Villenave d'Ornon, France
Pellerin, Sylvain;
GND
1262903483
ORCID
0000-0002-7311-3159
VIAF
6968165871000864270008
Affiliation
Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Braunschweig, Germany
Emde, David;
GND
1250271177
ORCID
0000-0003-0702-2993
Affiliation
Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Braunschweig, Germany
Seitz, Daria;
ORCID
0000-0001-9054-0489
Affiliation
Ecosys, Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Palaiseau, France
Chenu, Claire

The term carbon (C) sequestration has not just become a buzzword but is something of a siren's call to scientific communicators and media outlets. Carbon sequestration is the removal of C from the atmosphere and the storage, for example, in soil. It has the potential to partially compensate for anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and is, therefore, an important piece in the global climate change mitigation puzzle. However, the term C sequestration is often used misleadingly and, while likely unintentional, can lead to the perpetuation of biased conclusions and exaggerated expectations about its contribution to climate change mitigation efforts. Soils have considerable potential to take up C but many are also in a state of continuous loss. In such soils, measures to build up soil C may only lead to a reduction in C losses (C loss mitigation) rather than result in real C sequestration and negative emissions. In an examination of 100 recent peer-reviewed papers on topics surrounding soil C, only 4% were found to have used the term C sequestration correctly. Furthermore, 13% of the papers equated C sequestration with C stocks. The review, further, revealed that measures leading to C sequestration will not always result in climate change mitigation when non-CO2 greenhouse gases and leakage are taken into consideration. This paper highlights potential pitfalls when using the term C sequestration incorrectly and calls for accurate usage of this term going forward. Revised and new terms are suggested to distinguish clearly between C sequestration in soils, SOC loss mitigation, negative emissions, climate change mitigation, SOC storage, and SOC accrual to avoid miscommunication among scientists and stakeholder groups in future.

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