Increasing soil organic carbon in agricultural soils is a strategy that is becoming increasingly popular as part of the global efforts to mitigate climate change. A large range of management strategies aim to increase or maintain organic soil organic carbon levels, including minimizing soil disturbance, diversifying vegetation, directly incorporating organic matter, and restoring drained organic soils. While these practices might be valid to increase soil organic carbon stocks, they can have associated trade-offs related to environmental impacts, such as increased greenhouse gas emissions (N₂O and CH₄) and nutrient losses, as well as socio-ecological implications. This special issue comprises contributions that give insight into the trade-offs and synergies associated with agricultural management practices that aim to mitigate climate change through soil carbon sequestration. It is a joint effort from scientists participating in projects within the European Joint Programme Cofund on Agricultural Soil Management (EJP SOIL, https://ejpsoil.eu) who act as invited editors.

Review process: all papers of this special issue underwent the regular interactive peer-review process of SOIL handled by guest editors designated by the SOIL executive editors.