The role of soils in the global carbon cycle and in reducing GHG emissions from agriculture has been increasingly acknowledged. The '4 per 1000' (4p1000) initiative has become a prominent action plan for climate change mitigation and achieve food security through an annual increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks by 0.4%, (i.e. 4‰ per year). However, the feasibility of the 4p1000 scenario and, more generally, the capacity of individual countries to implement soil carbon sequestration (SCS) measures remain highly uncertain. Here, we evaluated country-specific SCS potentials of agricultural land for 24 countries in Europe. Based on a detailed survey of available Poland National 10,400 20 Reduced tillage, crops residues, manure 1.6 Portugal National 90 10 Sown biodiverse permanent pastures rich in legumes (SBPPR) 0.16 Spain National 7650.6 10 No-tillage 2.9 Sweden National 1760 30 Perennials, intensification of leys, no bare fallowing, cover crops or catch crops 0.324 National 600 20 Cover crops and agroforestry 0.144