Project Credible opens public consultation on its report “Ensuring carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits”

Carbon farming increases the amount of organic carbon stored in soils and biomass, mitigating climate change. But these practices don’t just affect the climate –they may also impact other sustainability outcomes, including soil health, biodiversity, and water use and quality. Therefore, the promotion of carbon farming poses both an opportunity and a risk regarding other sustainability objectives, alongside climate change mitigation. This concept is the starting point of Credible’s report “Ensuring carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits”, published in 2024 by Credible’s partners Hugh McDonald, Julia Pazmino Murillo, and Aaron Scheid (Ecologic Institute), and now open for public consultation here.

In a nutshell, the policy brief explores how the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation can not only avoid negatively affecting biodiversity, adaptation, water and other sustainability outcomes, but also maximise the positive impact of carbon farming on mineral soils. In this sense, it is crucial that carbon farming certification supports broad sustainability objectives, which can be achieved following six principles discussed in the report.

Based on Focus Group discussions, the document delves deep into the sustainability operationalisation in the CRCF certification methodologies, addressing both implementing minimum sustainability requirements and incentivising co-benefits beyond minimum requirements. Regarding the former, the study outlines that farmers should complete a low cost “farm environment plan”, which supports the adoption of sustainable farming practices. As for the latter, it is suggested that the CRCF should support market price premiums to incentivise co-benefits, promoting a Sustainability+ label.

Furthermore, the report addresses ideas such as the definition of a negative list of excluded high-risk actions and the encouragement of voluntary quantification of sustainability impacts. Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in this public consultation, which is funded by the European Union and monitored closely by the Expert Group on Carbon Removals that supports the Commission in its efforts to develop the CRCF Certification Framework.