The 4 per 1000 Initiative was officially launched at the COP21 Climate Conference during the side event on Soils for Food Security and Climate Initiative on December 1st. The Initiative aims to reduce manmade CO2 emissions by boosting carbon sequestration in the soil, by means of agricultural practices. GFAR Chair, Juan Lucas Restrepo, attended the launch.

The research component of 4 per 1000 is led by CIRAD, the CGIAR, INRA and the IRD. On 30 November, the first day of COP21, they organized a meeting at CIRAD Head Office in Paris, involving several international research organizations that took the opportunity of expressing their considerable interest in the programme. The initiative was officially launched by French Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll at COP21, the day after the meeting. Broadly speaking, it intends to bring together public- and private-sector players under the umbrella of the Lima-Paris Action Agenda.

Below an informative video from IRD on the 4 per 1000 Initiative: