Upping Investments in Our Soil Carbon Future

As we discussed previously, soil carbon is hard. And yet, none of the difficulties in measuring soil carbon are good enough excuses not to invest in carbon removals as a tool (one of many) to help mitigate climate change. Interest in investing in soil carbon removals is high, especially within the agrifood value chain.

In fact, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development recently reported more than 50 investments in soil carbon removal R&D across their member organizations.

In our recent blog, we spoke of the urgency of increasing our investments in soil carbon removals. The need is now. The technology is available. Interest is high. We need to capitalize on this momentum, refine our science and technology, and increase our investments in a soil carbon future.

This is why Regrow, along with several tech startups, enthusiastically signed a letter from Carbon 180 to the US Congressional Appropriations Committees urging Congress to increase USDA funding for soil carbon programs. The letter requests an increase in investment of more than $1.2B in an effort to support programs that bring better understanding to the science of soil carbon dynamics, allow for innovation in new technologies for measuring soil carbon, help agriculture identify best management practices for soil carbon removals, and allow us to better measure, report and verify (MRV) our outcomes.

This investment from Congress, coupled with the recent $1B USDA program in support of Climate Smart Commodities will help make significant progress toward capturing the true potential of soil carbon removals, which will empower the ag and food value chain to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.

We agree with Carbon180’s request and call for other technology partners to add their voices in support of increased funding for these critical climate initiatives. Together, we look forward to a brighter, more carbon neutral future, especially within our food systems.