Blog by Dr Khalid Mahmood, Partnerships and Development Manager
As the world prepares for 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil (10–21 November 2025) — the so‑called “Nature COP” — attention is turning to one of Earth’s most powerful yet overlooked climate solutions: the soil beneath our feet.
Set at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, COP30 will provide the world with a unique platform to discuss climate solutions “firmly rooted in the heart of the Amazon.” Fittingly, this year’s global conversation around climate action, food systems, and nature‑based solutions is being enriched by a renewed focus on soil health, regenerative agriculture, and carbon financing as vital pathways to achieving Net Zero.
To advance this dialogue, the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) is hosting a two‑part webinar series titled “Soils as a Pathway to Net Zero” and “Role of Indigenous People on Soil Health Management.” The series brings together scientists, farmers, policymakers, and sustainability leaders to explore how healthy soils can drive emission reductions, enhance resilience, and create fair financial opportunities for those who steward the land.
🌱 The Ground Beneath Net Zero
Soil health lies at the core of our planet’s stability — regulating water, cycling nutrients, supporting biodiversity, and storing more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined. Estimates show that global soil organic carbon stocks to 2 m depth are about 2,400 Gt C — roughly three times the amount found in vegetation (Minasny et al., 2017; Biogeosciences 2022).
Yet decades of degradation, intensive agriculture, and land‑use change have left much of the world’s soil carbon depleted. Studies suggest that about 133 billion tonnes of carbon (≈8% of global soil carbon stocks) may have been lost from the top two metres of soil since the dawn of agriculture (Carbon Brief 2017)
Soil restoration is not just an environmental issue but a climate imperative. Improving soil structure, increasing organic matter, and integrating regenerative farming practices such as cover‑cropping, minimum tillage, organic amendments, and intercropping can lock away carbon for decades while improving yields and biodiversity. Research indicates that croplands have additional soil organic carbon (SOC) storage potential of about 29‑65 Pg C, equating to 3‑7 years of current global emissions under best‑case scenarios (Padarian, et al., 2022)
There is a need to understand the role of livestock in maintaining soil fertility and nutrient cycling, the balance between land use and climate goals, and the need for region‑specific soil management approaches. Healthy soils don’t just feed plants — they feed economies, ecosystems, and communities through clean water, clean air, food and ecosystem services.
Financing the Transition: The Role of Carbon Markets
While the science is clear, the economics of transition remain challenging. A central question from the second webinar will be: Who pays for regenerative agriculture?
For most farmers — especially smallholders — the cost of adopting regenerative practices can be a financial risk, prohibitive without supportive finance or market mechanisms. There is a need to explore public‑private co‑financing models to accelerate change.
The growing Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) could offer a major opportunity — but one that must evolve. According to a recent analysis, the VCM grew four‑fold in value from 2020 to 2021 (to about US$2 billion), with expectations of reaching US$10‑40 billion by 2030 (PwC / IETA Survey Report-2023). There is also a need to develop a transparent system of carbon accounting, backed by robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) frameworks to ensure that carbon credits from soil and nature‑based projects are credible, traceable, and fairly priced.
Today, majority of the farmers receive only a fraction of the true value of the carbon and biodiversity gains they deliver. By improving MRV, strengthening data integrity, and developing fair pricing and incentives, soil carbon projects can attract meaningful investments while rewarding those who make the transition possible — the farmers.
Regenerative Agriculture and Nature‑Based Solutions
Regenerative agriculture and nature‑based solutions (NbS) are central to Net Zero discussions — not as buzzwords, but as practical climate tools. From crop‑livestock integration to composting and agroforestry, these approaches are restoring soil function, reducing chemical dependence, and rebuilding local ecosystems.
Such methods are already proving their worth: increasing carbon sequestration, improving water use efficiency, and boosting farmer resilience against climate extremes. For example, even a 0.4% annual increase in the global soil carbon reservoir would store an additional 6‑10 Gt C per year — a significant portion of current anthropogenic carbon emissions (OECD. 2022. Soil Carbon Sequestration by Agriculture). When scaled through transparent green‑finance systems and supportive policy frameworks, these practices could make agriculture a Net Carbon Sink rather than a source.
Soil Health at the Heart of the Net Zero Journey
The planned BSSS webinar series will highlight a powerful message:
“The road to Net Zero starts in the soil.”
To make that journey successful, the world must invest in:
- Soil health as a foundation: Integrate restoration and regenerative practices into all land management systems to enhance carbon storage, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience.
- Transparent carbon accounting: Implement robust MRV frameworks to ensure credibility, traceability, and trust in soil carbon credits.
- Fair financial mechanisms: Provide incentives and accessible financing for farmers to adopt regenerative practices and secure sustainable livelihoods.
- Science-policy alignment: Embed soil health metrics into national and corporate climate targets to drive coordinated action.
- Indigenous knowledge for restoration: Leverage traditional practices such as crop rotation, intercropping, and agroforestry to maintain soil fertility, restore degraded lands, and support carbon sequestration.
- Indigenous stewardship and resilience: Promote holistic land management that balances production with ecosystem conservation, reduces erosion, and strengthens long-term climate resilience.
Looking Ahead to Belém: A Defining Moment
COP30 marks a symbolic return to Brazil — the site of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was born. Now, over three decades later, the world’s attention returns to the Amazon, with Brazil’s upcoming launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility poised to anchor public‑private financing for tropical forest and soil protection.
As the BSSS webinar series highlights, the success of COP30’s “Nature COP” vision depends on reconnecting global climate goals with the living systems that sustain them. Healthy soils are the bridge between forests and farms, carbon and communities, policy and practice.
From Science to Society: A Call to Action
Without healthy soils, climate resilience and food security will remain out of reach. But with coordinated action — linking science, policy, finance, and farming — soils can become the foundation of a just, regenerative, and carbon‑neutral future.
As we look toward Belém, one message resounds from the soil‑science community:
To restore nature and reach Net Zero, we must start from the ground up — with living soils at the heart of climate action.
