Fungi stores a third of carbon from fossil fuel emissions and could be essential to reaching net zero

Scientists have discovered how a ‘jaw-dropping’ subterranean carbon sink made entirely of fungi pulls down more than a third of global CO2 emissions each year – enough to cancel out China’s annual toll. Mycorrhizal fungi networks hold 13 gigatons of CO2, making them the “most effective carbon capture storage unit in the world,” according to experts at the University of Sheffield, UK, who led the study.

Researchers said that fungi deserves a better standing in conservation efforts, and called for soil ecosystems to be preserved. “Mycorrhizal fungi represent a blind spot in carbon modelling, conservation, and restoration” said Prof Katie Field, the study’s co-author. “The numbers we’ve uncovered are jaw-dropping. When we’re thinking about solutions for climate, we should also be thinking about what we can harness that exists already.”