Degrading soils could emit more CO2 than all the world's cars, report warns

A report presented at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, warns that at the current rate of degradation the world's soils could release up to 4.81 billion tonnes of CO2 a year. That exceeds the output of all cars and vans and is around 90 times Portugal's emissions. Restoring degraded farmland through regenerative practices could deliver up to 27% of the emission cuts needed to keep warming below 2°C, without harming harvests. Yet over 70% of countries leave soil recovery out of their climate plans. In Portugal, 58% of the mainland is susceptible to desertification.