Jean-Luc CHOTTE is a research director at the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), France. His research topic is the impact of climate change and land use on soil organic matter dynamics (stocks and fluxes) in the tropics. He has led several research units, and between 2015 and 2019 he was a scientific expert member of the Policy Science Interface of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Since 2015, he has been the scientific referent of the IRD in the 4P1000 initiative. Jean-Luc Chotte is a corresponding member of the French Academy of Agriculture and a member of the French Scientific Committee to Combat Desertification (CSFD). He has been the President of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification (http://www.csf-desertification.org/) since July 2020.