The FARM Foundation and the international "4 per 1000" initiative strengthen their collaboration

On October 14, 2022, Catherine Migault, Executive Director of the FARM Foundation, and Paul Luu, Executive Secretary of the International Initiative “4 per 1000”, signed a memorandum of understanding to initiate joint projects around soil protection.

Acting internationally for the sustainable development of agriculture, responding to the critical challenges of climate change and food security, and promoting soil health on a global scale: there is no shortage of mutual interests between the FARM Foundation and the International “4 per 1000” Initiative. "Our two entities wish to carry out concrete actions in order to contribute to raising awareness among public and private decision-makers on the need to protect the planet's agricultural soils.", specifies the head of FARM.

As a reminder, the international initiative "4 per 1000" was launched by France during COP21 in 2015. Its aim is to create synergy between the various public and private actors (States, communities, businesses, professional organizations, NGOs, research establishments, etc.) in order to move towards a real agro-ecological transition in agriculture and to implement concrete actions for the natural storage of carbon in the soil. "This partnership is essential for the FARM Foundation, because we share the idea that agriculture is also a solution to fight against global warming," adds Catherine Migault.

With currently 739 partners, including 326 members and 41 signatory countries, the “4 per 1000” Initiative is now entering the implementation phase of its 2020-2050 Strategic Plan and its 24 strategic objectives.

In the coming months, FARM and "4 per 1000" will define the operational actions and projects that will promote soil health on a global scale, with the aim of demonstrating that the evolution of agricultural practices is compatible with sustainable economic models.

What does 4 per 1000 mean? ?

As we know, human activities emit enormous quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, which strengthens the greenhouse effect and accelerates climate change.

But what is less well known is that each year, approximately 30% of this carbon dioxide is recovered by plants. thanks to photosynthesis. Then, when the plants die and decompose, living organisms in the soil, such as bacteria, fungi or earthworms, transform them into organic matter. This organic matter – rich in carbon – is essential to human nutrition because it retains water, nitrogen and phosphorus, essential for plant growth.

But it also represents enormous carbon storage potential: the world's soils contain 2 to 3 times more carbon than the atmosphere. If the level of carbon stored by soils in the top 30 to 40 centimeters of soil increased by 0.4% (or 4‰) per year, the annual increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere would be considerably reduced.

This growth rate of 4‰ per year of soil carbon stocks is not a normative target for each country, but a direction to follow.

This is what is proposed the international “4 per 1000” initiative – soils for food security and climate.

To find out more: https://4p1000.org/