International and National Aspects of a Legislative Framework to Manage Soil Carbon Sequestration

Abstract

This article discusses the international and national environmental law framework for the management of soil carbon sequestration. Aspects of the legislative framework important to this process include its ability to recognise carbon sinks, expand existing sinks, and the procedures available to return and store carbon in soil reservoirs. International law provides global standards and guidelines and national legislative systems provide the substantive and procedural legal mechanisms to manage soil carbon. The "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" and the "Kyoto Protocol" are the primary international legislative instruments but other international instruments and strategies have a significant synergistic role. Various approaches are presented for framing new legislation or to reform existing legislative frameworks to improve the procedures to manage soil carbon.