Assessment of agricultural policies to implement soil organic carbon (SOC) commitments in NDCs: Examples from Brazil and Rwanda

Countries with national agricultural policies providing quantified SOC-related mitigation actions and commitments can increase NDC transparency by referring to such policies and associated actions in their NDCs. Brazil’s updated NDC set an absolute economy-wide mitigation target and for the 2020-2030 period, the ABC+ Plan sets out SOC-related mitigation actions and commitment targets to reduce agricultural GHG emissions for which an MRV mechanism is under development. In Rwanda, quantified SOC-related mitigation actions and an MRV Framework were developed as part of the NDC update process, however, this SOC-related information is not fully reflected in Rwanda’s latest Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation, which was published two years prior to the updated NDC. NDC development can be a driver for national SOC-related projects, actions, commitments, mitigation potentials and MRV mechanisms. For developing countries, this process can be enhanced through support programs for NDC development. In countries where quantifying SOC-related agricultural actions is driven by NDC development, relevant agricultural policies need to be updated and aligned to support NDC implementation

Evaluating ambition for soil organic carbon sequestration and protection in nationally determined contributions

Increased international attention on agricultural soil organic carbon (SOC) has raised expectations of its potential contribution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Yet, debate on what is achievable and how to monitor or verify improvement in SOC has challenged progress. Since SOC is the primary terrestrial carbon pool, specification of SOC targets, policies and measures in agriculture may be pivotal to achieving global climate change targets, and thus appropriate to include in the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the 2015 Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Ambition for soil organic carbon sequestration in the new and updated nationally determined contributions 2020- 2021: Analysis of agricultural sub-sectors in national climate change strategies

Key messages - The share of countries that referenced soil organic carbon (SOC) in new and updated NDCs has increased since the previous round of NDCs. - Among the top 10 countries with the highest mitigation potential for SOC in croplands and grasslands, 6 referred to SOC in mitigation measures. - Among the top 10 countries with the highest mitigation potential in wetlands, 5 referred to wetlands in mitigation measures. - SOC commitments that demonstrated high standards, which may indicate options for other countries, included quantified outcomes, information on reference levels of indicators, mitigation potentials, and policies. - Specification of sub-sector actions in NDCs can improve eligibility for climate finance, but this level of detail can reduce countries’ flexibility for meeting their NDC targets and countries often lack affordable, robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems

Soil carbon in the Nationally Determinted Contributions: Analysis results

Presentation by Liesl Wiese-Rozanova, International agricultural science and policy consultant, South Africa. The presentation was part of the Webinar on Soil carbon in the Nationally Determined Contributions hosted by CCAFS, the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and the 4 Per Mille Initiative and held on Earth Day, 22 April 2020

What about soil in the NDCs?

Presentation by Liesl Wiese-Rozanova at the 4per1000 Initiative Day at COP25