Soil organic carbon
Unit
Indicator
Metric type
Framework alignment notes
Target example
[Company name] commits to [maintain or increase] the soil organic carbon stock [at/to] above [target value] in [target location(s)] by [target year] compared with a [baseline year] baseline.
Target source: Adapted from SBTN Land Target
Sector
Value chain stage
Metric assessment
Relevance: High
Feasibility: High
Additional Metric Notes
Rationale: Soil health is a key element in improving agricultural outcomes, making its measurement essential for establishing baselines and measuring outcomes. Soil carbon is considered a proxy for many other outcomes including overall soil health, biodiversity and water holding capacity. Key resources: Regen-ag Metrics - Climate & Soils chapters Landscape deep dives: Cerrado, BR - soy (+ corn/cotton rotation) - Key resources: Soil Organic Carbon App (open access tool from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)): https://ciatsocapp.github.io/; Upper Midwest, USA - corn (+ soy rotation) - Key indicator for this biome where soil degradation is high Key resources: Web Soil Survey (soil data and information): https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ Soil and Water Conservation Districts (directory): https://www.nacdnet.org/general-resources/conservation-district-directory/ Soil Organic Carbon network SOCnet (monitoring project): https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/lnc22-475/; Friesland, NL - dairy (incl roughage growing) - Key indicator for this biome where SOC is relatively high but soil degradation is a threat Key resources: Slim Landgebruik for livestock farming: https://slimlandgebruik.nl/maatregelen/veehouderij ; Sidama, ETH - coffee - Key indicator for this biome where soil degradation is high Key resources: Soil Organic Carbon App (open access tool from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)): https://ciatsocapp.github.io/