Science-policy interface of soil-carbon sequestration

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are receiving increasing attention as the global warming level nears the 1.5 °C threshold. However, these technologies face several challenges of scaling up from small scale to globally significant interventions, in dealing with large uncertainties and bioethical dilemmas, and securing public acceptance. A branch of these technologies deal with the storage of carbon in soils. Soils are already intensely utilised as a resource, and due to the required scale of intervention these technologies may have co-benefits or trade-offs with other soil functions (food production, nutrient cycling, water filtration and habitat provision). To add to the difficulty of scaling, monitoring, and assessing these strategies, soils are highly heterogenous in both natural properties and anthropogenic management. The aim of this project is to understand how science and policy around soil-based CDR technologies interact with each other, and how structures and assumptions embedded in the initial phases of scientific development and establishment may determine political outcomes.