The future of agriculture and forestry starts today
The humusCO2mp compartment within the Finomics Sustainable Umbrella Fund will support farmers who enrich their soils with humus to improve CO2 storage in the soil.
Time to act
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxide are at their highest in 800,000 years. Climate change has already caused average global temperatures to rise by around 1.0°C compared to pre-industrial levels. The global temperature increase will reach the 1.5°C mark agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement between 2030 and 2052.
Around 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon are stored in agricultural areas in Germany. This means that the soils store more than twice as much carbon as the entire tree population in German forests and more than three times the amount of CO2 that is released throughout Germany each year.
Facts
95
tons per hectare
Arable lands
181
tons per hectare
Permanent green spaces
1,000
tons per hectare
Moor soils
Humus is the most important carbon store
The amount of carbon that is stored depends not only on the type of soil but also on how an area is used. While arable land stores an average of around 95 tonnes of carbon per hectare, an average of 181 tonnes per hectare is stored in permanent grassland areas.
Grassland on drained moorland can even contain more than 1,000 tons of carbon per hectare in the upper two meters.
The crucial substance that permanently binds carbon in the soil is humus.
How much carbon a soil can store depends on its humus content. Companies can influence the formation of humus through the type of cultivation.
In addition to its function as a carbon store, humus offers other advantages for agriculture. High levels improve the water storage capacity of a soil, reduce the risk of erosion and enable more stable and higher yields.
“I would like to see agricultural innovation receive as much attention as renewable energy, because its success is at least as important to halting the climate crisis.”
Bill Gates, Microsoft founder