Advances and challenges in institutionalizing a National Soil Organic Matter Policy in response to the climate emergency in Brazil

The rapid, large-scale, and widespread increase of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) stocks in Brazil is critical for addressing the climate emergency. When combined with effective deforestation control, the strategic integration of multiple soil carbon sequestration practices—including composting, no-tillage systems, microbiologically activated pyrogenic carbon (biochar), integrated crop–livestock–forest systems, green manuring, rock dust remineralization, and bio-based agricultural inputs—has the potential to position Brazil as a global leader in climate change mitigation through soils.

This study assessed the current legal, regulatory, and policy framework in Brazil related to incentives for the protection, restoration, and enhancement of soil organic matter. The analysis identifies strategic institutional elements already in place that should be maintained, as well as critical gaps that must be urgently addressed to enable large-scale SOM accumulation. Key existing policy foundations include legal definitions of biological recycling, composting, selective collection in at least three fractions (recyclables, organic waste, and residual waste), and bio-based agricultural inputs (bioinputs), which collectively support the recycling of organic residues into soils.

Major barriers identified include incentive structures that continue to favor undifferentiated waste collection and disposal in sanitary landfills, as well as limited transparency in the economic valuation of the agronomic and environmental benefits of organic-based fertilizers and soil amendments. The findings highlight the need for coordinated policy instruments that align waste management, agricultural inputs regulation, and climate strategies to accelerate SOM-based climate solutions in Brazil.