Soils play a crucial role for climate protection. Transfer-based instruments and other forms of financial incentives can promote measures to enhance the carbon sink function of soils, but involve a number of environmental and social risks and challenges. Only if the risks are adequately addressed can transfer-based instruments contribute to a fundamental transformation towards climate-friendly land use.

In this project, Ecologic Institute in cooperation with Oeko-Institut and Giessen University, analyses measures for climate-friendly soil use and the challenges and opportunities of transfer-based instruments as well as other funding mechanisms to promote these measures. In addition, current legal and political framework conditions for nature-based solutions and climate-friendly soil use will be examined.

The project has the objectives, to classify and assess the global potential of nature-based solutions to avoid, mitigate and sequester greenhouse gases and to concretely analyse specific measures for climate-friendly soil use and evaluate the opportunities and risks of transfer-based instruments and other financial incentives to promote these measures.