Nature Based Solutions

The document critiques soil carbon farming as a mechanism for corporations and governments to offset emissions without making deep cuts. It contends that these schemes entrench industrial farming, facilitate corporate data grabbing, and marginalize smallholder farmers and traditional knowledge. The author asserts that soil carbon sequestration is technically unreliable, often overestimated, and cannot compensate for the long-term impact of fossil fuel combustion.

• Soil carbon markets are described as offset schemes where farmers are paid to sequester carbon to allow companies or governments to continue emitting greenhouse gases in pursuit of 'net zero' goals.
• The document argues that these schemes increase corporate control over agriculture by locking farmers into contracts that require proprietary seeds and agrochemicals, and by using digital platforms to extract vast amounts of agronomic and personal data.
• Soil carbon farming is claimed to drive farm consolidation and mechanization, favoring large-scale industrial monocultures over family-scale or diversified farms because larger projects are easier for investors to manage.
• The author asserts that soil carbon sequestration is an inadequate climate solution because it cannot offset fossil fuel burning due to the difference in carbon cycle speeds; surface carbon is released quickly, while fossil carbon takes thousands of years to reform.
• The document claims that carbon offsets frequently overestimate sequestration, citing an independent review of Verra which found that 90% of its rainforest protection credits did not represent real sequestration.
• Reliable measurement of soil carbon is described as practically impossible due to high variability between testing points and the risk that sequestered carbon can be released rapidly through erosion or land use changes.
• The document highlights the role of the fertilizer company Yara in promoting these schemes through the Agoro Carbon Alliance in the US and investments in Boomitra to target farmers in India, Mexico, South America, and East Africa.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). Nature Based Solutions. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FoEI-NBS-factsheet3.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. Nature Based Solutions. n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FoEI-NBS-factsheet3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=Nature Based Solutions |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FoEI-NBS-factsheet3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternationalndnature, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{Nature Based Solutions}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FoEI-NBS-factsheet3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }