Soils Emit Massive Amounts of Greenhouse Gases. Here’s What’s Behind It

When we think about carbon and climate change, we often look up to the atmosphere where heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs) accumulate, or to the green forest canopies that absorb carbon. But the largest carbon store on land lies beneath our feet. 

Soils hold more carbon than all the world’s trees and the atmosphere combined. They can release carbon when disturbed, such as through deforestation or intensive agriculture, or they can store more when farmers adopt practices that reduce disturbances.

New research from WRI and partners shows that from 2016 to 2024, disturbed soils released approximately 3.9 billion metric tons of GHGs1 every year — nearly equivalent to the combined fossil fuel emissions of India and Saudi Arabia in 2024. Two-thirds of these emissions came from draining and burning peat and other carbon-rich organic soils, with those emissions concentrated in just 10 countries. The remaining one-third of emissions came from less carbon-rich soil spread over a much larger area.

But soils aren’t a source of emissions everywhere. In some regions, soil carbon stocks have increased since 2016.

Here, we unpack what’s going on with the world’s soil carbon and why keeping it in the ground — or even increasing how much is stored there — is critical for curbing climate change and sustaining food systems that billions of people depend on.