Twenty years in the making, the landmark Paris climate deal made history. It was praised as a “turning point for the world” and “the best chance we have to save the one planet that we’ve got.”
But the Paris Climate Accord wasn’t the only history-making moment during the 2015 Paris Climate Summit. On December 1, the French government launched the 4 per 1000: Soils for Food Security and Climate Initiative, a bold plan that, if adopted and implemented on a large scale by the countries that have signed on to the Paris climate deal, has the power to cool the planet and feed the world.
In simplest terms, the 4 per 1000 Initiative calls for countries to draw down more carbon than they emit, and to store it in the soil. How? By scaling up regenerative farming, grazing and land-use practices. These practices lead to an increase in photosynthesis—nature’s own system for pulling excess carbon out of the air and sequestering it in the soil. They also produce more drought-resistant and resilient crops, and more nutrient-dense food.
As its name suggests, the 4 per 1000 addresses both global warming and food security. Soil degradation now threatens at least a third of the Earth’s land surface, and climate change is accelerating the rate of degradation. This is having a devastating impact on small farmers (who provide 70 percent of the world’s food) and on global food security. Our capacity to feed 9.5 billion people in 2050 in the face of a changing climate will depend greatly on our ability to restore and maintain the world’s soils.
The 4 per 1000 Initiative is approved under the Lima-Paris Action Agenda, officially recognized by the Paris Climate Accord. The Initiative also aims to strengthen existing synergies between the three Rio Conventions–the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)–and the Committee for Food Security (CFS), the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
