Beyond Climate Change Mitigation: The Hidden Economic Co-Benefits of Soil Carbon Sequestration

Abstract

There are no known valuations for any of the ecosystem service flows from soil carbon; specifically, there is no valuation of the total service flows, and no valuation of the stock of the physical components from which these services flow for any country or region in the world. We begin this conversation, but as the first study of its kind we are aware there are significant data limitations. The aim of this study was to identify how the service flows from soil carbon can be valued, and to develop a framework for data needed to allow policymakers to capture the value of the co-benefits of soil carbon sequestration. These co-benefits can then be fully accounted for in future Social Cost-Benefit Analysis. Using a Total Economic Value approach to value soil carbon linked to the ecosystem services it provides, we found that for every £1 of climate regulation benefit derived by society from the sequestration of carbon in soils, an additional £62 of co-benefits are derived from other soil ecosystem services. Accounting for different areas of soil type and land use, the total ecosystem service value delivered by soil carbon in England and Wales, adjusted for C stock, was £50.8 billion (0-30 cm) and £59.7 billion (0-100cm).  Due to the lack of comprehensive data for cultural services, biological control of pests and diseases, recycling of wastes and detoxification, and raw materials, the total co-benefit estimates are likely to be undervalued. Valuing the co-benefits of sequestering soil carbon can support the development of policy interventions to encourage increasing soil carbon and reward land managers for the delivery of public goods.

Keywords: Soil Carbon, evaluation of soil carbon ecosystem services, UK soils, Total Economic Value approach