Food System

Carbon farming and carbon certificates in agriculture, the EU project

February 1, 2022

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The European Commission, in December 2021, issued a communication on carbon farming, sustainable carbon cycles and carbon certificates in agriculture. (1)
The development of a new line of funding, under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), linked to the ability to sequester CO2 in the atmosphere is thus envisaged.

This initiative comes under the umbrella of the Green Deal, along with the strategies
Farm to Fork
,
Biodiversity 2030
e
Soil Protection 2030
. Insight.

Table of Contents

1) Background. Soils, agriculture and carbon sequestration

Soils store twice as much carbon as is found in the atmosphere. The increase of organic matter in soils-as well as contributing to the improvement of the physical and chemical properties of the soil-contributes to the sequestration of CO2 into the atmosphere. Decades of conventional (non-organic) farming, on the other hand, have significantly and widely decreased organic matter concentrations in soils. Particularly where losses have not been offset by organic contributions. (2)

Certain agronomic practices-such as crop rotation, cover crops, minimal tillage(permaculture), and in more general terms the organic farming system-can contribute to the increase of organic matter in soils and thus also mitigate climatic emergence. Precision agriculture can in turn contribute to the reduction of nitrogen fertilizer consumption.

2) Sustainable carbon cycles. The EU project

2.1) Objectives and macro-measures

‘Sustainable carbon cycles,’ in the recent Brussels communication, (3) express a green business model that should reward the adoption–by land managers–of carbon farming practices. Agricultural and forestry activities capable of increasing atmospheric carbon sequestration could absorb up to 250 million tons/year of CO2 in the EU by 2030, according to Commission estimates.

Three macro-measures are defined to achieve this goal:

– incentivize carbon farming under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and other EU programs, e.g., ‘Soil Deal for Europe‘. In addition to public grants at the national level,

– Establish monitoring, reporting and verification standards to ensure the reliability of certification and foster the development of the carbon market,

– Make a data management system and ‘tailor-made’ advisory services available to farmers.

2.2) Carbon farming, examples of best practices.

The management of territories obviously depends on their characteristics. It gives a few examples of practices that are effective in increasing carbon sequestration that, in most cases, also provide co-benefits for ecosystems and biodiversity:

– Reforestation and reforestation, respecting ecological principles to guard biodiversity and sustainable forest management, with attention also to their adaptation to climate change,

– Agroforestry and other forms of mixed farming that combine woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with agricultural and/or livestock production systems on the same land,

– intercropping, cover crops, conservation tillage, and increased landscape characteristics (e.g., soil protection, reduced soil loss through erosion, and increased soil organic carbon on degraded arable land),

– Targeted conversion of fallow cropland or set-aside areas to permanent pasture,

– restoration of peatlands and wetlands to reduce oxidation of existing carbon stocks and increase the potential for CO2 sequestration.

2.3) Carbon farming, the certification system

Farmers’ remuneration will be based on carbon certificates. Namely, certification of the t of CO2 accumulated by individual farms through specific carbon farming activities. These certificates can be placed on the market and purchased by other companies to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions, thus bringing a new source of income to farmers.

The DG for Climate Action, at the European Commission, is therefore working on the criteria to be followed for the estimation and asseveration of the carbon balance of farms and forestry, taking into account the systems developed so far. (4) It will also have to be decided whether to draw the premiums from the first pillar of the CAP-and thus from the FAEGA (European Agricultural Guarantee Fund)-or from the second pillar, through the EAFRD (European Agricultural Rural Development Fund).

3) Reactions of the social partners concerned

Reactions to this communication from the European agricultural community are mixed, in the sense that the premises regarding the maneuver are not fully convincing to all insiders.

3.1) Copa-Cogeca and Big Ag.

Copa-Cogeca-the giga-confederation of farmers in the EU, always close to the interests of Big Ag (the agrochemical industry giants)-has welcomed the news regarding the inclusion of carbon farming on the political agenda. A great opportunity for farmers and forest owners to target the market.

Big Ag
in turn has already adopted carbon farming initiatives. Bayer itself-not coincidentally, the only European Corporation, among the Big 4-launched its ‘Carbon Program‘. A three-year project involving 27 farms in 7 European countries (not including Italy), focusing on agricultural practices such as the use of cover crops and reduced tillage on the land.

3.2) Via Campesina and Greenpeace

By contrast, #ECVC – European Coordination Via Campesina, the coordination of peasants and rural workers in Europe – expresses strong misgivings about thisumpteenthinstrument of ‘financialization of agriculture and land speculation. Giants in other industries (e.g. IT, energy, chemical, etc.) could thus mask their polluting activities by purchasing carbon credits. At the expense of, among other things, agricultural production, food sovereignty and food security.

Greenpeace in turn notes how the mechanism for ‘offsetting’ between Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from polluting plants and the carbon theoretically captured and stored in soils is itself purely theoretical, to date unproven. It is clear how the ‘carbon algebra’ alone is not sufficient even to explain the complexity of the current climate emergency phenomenon, to which atmospheric particles and other pollutants also contribute.

4) Financing

The national strategic plans related to the CAP defined by the European Commission already indicate among the priorities, including in Italy:

– ‘supporting organic farming and animal husbandry‘ (E.2.6, strategic),

– ‘conserve and increase the carbon sequestration capacity of agricultural land and in the forestry sector‘ (E.2.1, qualifying),

– ‘promote the reduction of climate gas emissions‘ (E.2.2, qualifying),

– ‘encouraging the production and use of energy from renewable sources‘ (E.2.3, qualifying). (5)

Financial support for pilot projects can be granted through the LIFE program, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Horizon Europe. In the wake of previous projects, such as
LIFE Carbon Farming Scheme
e
Interreg Carbon Farming Scheme
.

5) Regulatory developments

A regulatory proposal for carbon sequestration certification will be adopted by the European Commission by the end of 2022.

Meanwhile, in Italy, work is expected to resume on four bills dedicated to soil protection, which are still stuck in the Senate. (6)

Dario Dongo, Giorgio Perrone

Cover image from Rugwegwe Olivier N. Sustainable carbon farming and carbon credits business models. Agriterra. 3.8.20, https://www.agriterra.org/sustainable_carbon_farming/

Notes

(1) European Commission. Carbon farming, sustaonable carbon cycles. https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/forests-and-agriculture/sustainable-carbon-cycles/carbon-farming_en

(2) Consider also, in a circular economy logic, the opportunities for the recovery of organic material from plant and animal by-products (with the exception of co-products subject to measures under EC Reg. 1069/2009) offered by Reg. EU 2019/1009, which lays down rules on making EU fertilizer products available on the market. See Article 19, termination of waste status

(3) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Sustainable Carbon Cycles. 15.12.21. COM(2021) 800 final. https://bit.ly/3ASAnsa

(4) Setting up and implementing result-based carbon farming mechanisms in the EU. Technical guidance handbook. Publication Office of the EU, 2021. https://bit.ly/3ubV29c

(5) CAP Strategic Plan Report 2021 (EAGF, FEARS). See Section 2.1.S04, pages 74-75, at https://www.reterurale.it/downloads/PSN_PAC_31-12-2021.pdf#page74

(6) Senate DDL no. 164, provisions for stopping land consumption, reusing built-up land and protecting the landscape(https://www.senato.it/leg/18/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/49158.htm). Senate DDL no. 965, Framework Law for the Protection and Sustainable Management of Soil (https://www.senato.it/leg/18/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/50998.htm). Senate DDL no. 812, provisions for the containment and reduction of land consumption (https://www.senato.it/leg/17/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/testi/41285_testi.htm). Senate DDL no. 2383, containment of land consumption and reuse of built-up land (https://www.senato.it/leg/17/BGT/Schede/Ddliter/46877.htm)