Avoidance of depletion of soil organic matter as part of land degradation and enhanced restoration in depleted soils are of direct importance to agriculture, ranching, forestry and other land uses, but are also a relevant part of national C accounting and the global C cycle. ‘Carbon markets’ imply economic, performance-based incentives that relate global climate and greenhouse gas concerns, via national commitments to reduce overall CO2 emissions, to incentives at the level of land users to increase net C storage. We focus on three groups of questions: 1. What is the value chain involved Can soil C be separated from aboveground land-use effects 2. Are market-based solutions feasible What can we learn from the pilots 3. Will the prices be worth it for land managers once transaction costs are accounted for Are there better ways to provide effective performance-based incentives from the public perspective We conclude that a combination of the commodification, compensation and co-investment versions of the broader payments or rewards for environmental services (ES) debate is probably needed to achieve the effects desired at both ends of the carbon value chain. Commodification, the purest market-based paradigm, by itself remains controversial and can be counterproductive. Synergy between private and public sectors is needed to make progress, while the primary attention will have to remain with the primary sources of anthropogenic carbon emissions