Lettre ADEME Recherche N° 35 Version anglaise

French soils store, in their top 30 centimetres, between 3 and 4 billion tonnes of carbon in the form of organic matter. Even a relatively small variation in this stock can significantly impact the regions' "greenhouse gas" (GHG) balance. A better understanding of organic carbon stocks in soils, the way they evolve naturally and the impact of agricultural and forestry practices on their future is therefore essential. This knowledge should feed into the implementation of the National Low-Carbon Strategy (Stratégie nationale bas-carbone - SNBC) which, under the Paris Agreement (COP 21), aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, i.e. the balance between human emissions and the capacity of ecosystems to sequester more carbon. In this context, the first challenge is to preserve carbon stocks and sinks in the soils of natural and forest areas by combating artificialisation and deforestation, and by restoring natural environments where possible. A second challenge is to increase carbon stocks in agricultural soils, in particular cultivated soils. ADEME supports R&D on these themes through various calls for projects, in particular GRAINE, the 4th edition of which will be launched in October 2021. In this edition:

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• PRESENTATION /Carbon in agricultural soils: a look back at 10 years of ADEME-supported research;,
• SIGNIFICANT RESULTS/ Of field research, soil at the crossroads of agricultural and climatic issues;,
• MEETING / Baptiste Soenen, Head of the Agronomy, Economy and Environment department at Arvalis-Institut du Vegetal and Thomas Eglin, Scientific and technical coordinator, Agriculture, forestry and sustainable soil management at ADEME.