Amid negotiations on the Nature Restoration Law proposed by the European Commission, it is a “good time” to discuss the potential of carbon farming, Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly has said.
Carbon farming aims to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in soils and reward farmers for reducing emissions and increasing carbon sequestration.
However, to reward farmers, the MEP said that a “well functioning” carbon farming framework that provides confidence, verification, and certification is essential.
A voluntary carbon removal verification framework to certify carbon removals generated across Europe was proposed by the European Commission last year.
Rules about how carbon credits will be used or who can buy them are not included in the proposal. It is expected that the legislative procedure will be finished before the next EU elections in 2024.
Carbon farming
Many farmers in Ireland and in Europe currently struggle to access carbon markets as there are no approved tools for measuring, reporting, and verifying emissions reductions on farms, the MEP said.
By implementing regenerative farming practices such as cover cropping, rotational grazing, and agro-forestry, the carbon sequestration capabilities in Ireland can be “significantly enhanced”, he said.
This not only mitigates climate change but also improves soil health, increases biodiversity, and strengthens the resilience of farming communities, Kelly added.
Amid the current debate around biodiversity, carbon farming is an opportunity to put farmers at the centre and prepare them with the tools and reward them for addressing climate issues, MEP Colm Markey said.
Commenting that the verification of carbon credits is the most important part and that this is the opportunity to bring new money into agriculture, Markey said:
“We have to recognise that the more effective we are [in] monitoring, reporting, [and verifying], the more we can then stand over the credibility of our carbon credits and then they are worth more in the market.”
However, the value of that carbon credit must be returned to the farmer or the landowner and not investors who could see an opportunity to invest in land just to access carbon credits, he said.
Kelly stressed that the journey towards carbon farming will not be without its challenges, and concerns around land use, funding, and market mechanisms must be addressed.
Net-zero journey
The biggest knowledge gap exists in measuring carbon stocks on farmland, willow and livestock farmer and chair of the EIP ARCZero project Prof. John Gilliland said.
Net zero is where the sum of emissions equals the sum of sequestration, it is not about zero emissions, he said stressing the importance of helping farmers to know their own carbon data.
“Remember, at the end of the day the legislation of net zero is about getting the average of the industry to zero, it is not about getting every farm to zero,” he said.
“I would hate to see airlines running away with all our carbon and then find we [farmers] are continuously beaten up and we actually have to go back into the market and buy expensive carbon back again.
“That would be an own goal,” he said commenting on the potential selling of carbon credits outside the agriculture industry.