Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets out a binding objective of climate neutrality in the Union by 2050 and negative emissions thereafter, to be achieved by prioritising swift and predictable emission reductions and, at the same time, enhancing removals by natural sinks. Sustainable soil management results in increased carbon sequestration and in most cases in co-benefits for ecosystems and biodiversity. The Commission communication of 15 December 2021 entitled Sustainable Carbon Cycles underlined the need for clear and transparent identification of the activities that unambiguously remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as the development of a Union framework for the certification of carbon removals from natural ecosystems, including soils. Moreover, Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council not only makes soil carbon central to the achievement of targets on the pathway to a climate neutral Europe, but also calls for Member States to prepare a system for the monitoring of soil carbon stocks, using, inter alia, the land use/cover area frame statistical survey (LUCAS) datasets.
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