Soil

Conference

Climate Change – can soil make a difference?

On 12th June 2008, the Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission hosted a high-level conference on the interrelations between soil and climate change and on the possible role of soil management in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The conference was chaired by Mr Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and was opened by Mr Stavros Dimas, Member of the European Commission responsible for the environment. It involved the participation of leading scientists and researchers who reported on the latest scientific findings on issues such as the amount of carbon stored in European soils, the evolution of these stocks in the last twenty years, future perspectives on the forecasted increase in global average temperature, and the role that agricultural and forestry practices can play in mitigating negative effects of a rise of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the Council of Ministers, and other key players participated in a roundtable discussion on the policy options that are available for enhancing the role that soils can play as a repository of carbon, and for limiting the loss of organic carbon from soils.

The final programme can be downloaded by clicking here.

The following speeches and presentations are available:

Title	Speaker
Introduction by the Chair	Mr Luc Gnacadja
Key note address	Mr Stavros Dimas
The projected effects of climate change in Europe	Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele
The role of soil organic matter in the global carbon cycle	Professor Rattan Lal
UK losses of soil carbon - due to climate change?	Mrs Pat H. Bellamy
Emissions from peat soils	Dr Jari Liski
Changes in soil organic matter in relation with land use and agricultural practices	Dr Dominique Arrouays
Emissions due to land use changes in Brazil	Professor Carlos C. Cerri
The role of agricultural practices in keeping or increasing soil organic matter	Professor Peter Smith
Evaluation of the potential of selected measures to reduce carbon emissions and sequester carbon in European soils	Dr Annette Freibauer
Final remarks	Mr Jos Delbeke

The full report on the conference (in English), containing a summary with the main findings and the outcome of the panel discussion, can be downloaded by clicking here.

The Executive Summary of the report is available in all the official languages:

(pdf ~20K)