Carbon removal and carbon farming offer considerable potential to help the European Union achieve its 2050 net-zero target. The 2024 Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation was designed to drive the development and deployment of these promising practices across the EU. The CREDIBLE project supports the implementation of carbon farming, its markets, and policies.

Building on the first phase of CREDIBLE, which focused on gathering consensus on the practices, standards and monitoring methodologies that could maximise the impact of carbon farming in the EU, CREDIBLE 2.0 provides further evidence to support sustainable adoption while facilitating a systematic process for making knowledge available and actionable at all levels. Its multidisciplinary approach combines technical solutions, multi-actor dialogues and support for operationalisation. The format of the European Carbon Farming Summit (ECFS) will continue focusing on the identification of barriers and knowledge gaps, providing an opportunity for cross-sectoral exchanges on carbon farming and participating in the advancement and dissemination of practical tools and resources.

Ecologic Institute’s role in CREDIBLE 2.0

Ecologic Institute is part of a consortium of 13 partners from seven countries. Our team contributes its expertise in carbon farming, governance, policy instruments, and knowledge dissemination.

In Work Package 3.1, Ecologic Institute is supporting the policy analyses to explore opportunities and barriers to the integration of CRCF methodologies into relevant policy frameworks. This work will fuel and facilitate high-quality discussions with key stakeholders. Building on the complementarity of the acquired knowledge and the insights from experts, thematic policy briefs will provide precise solution-oriented recommendations for an enabling and coherent policy landscape at EU and national levels.

Ecologic Institute leads Work Package 3.2, which focuses on identifying best practices in private investment in carbon farming. The demand-side requirements of potential CRCF buyers will be assessed, with particular attention to robust MRV frameworks, the role of certification schemes, the use of performance indicators, and the integration of additional co-benefits at the landscape level. A dedicated stakeholder workshop will be organised with partners and key experts to validate the findings and inform a policy note providing recommendations and best practices for private investment in carbon farming.

Finally, Work Package 3.3 aims at determining gaps and opportunities for landscape-based approaches, evaluating how landscape approaches can enhance the integrity and relevance of carbon markets. Also the role of landscape approaches in the transition towards viable and resilient rural communities will be considered. Existing initiatives enforcing carbon farming at the landscape level will be mapped to provide a comprehensive overview of carbon allocation challenges and available solutions. The findings will subsequently be completed by experts and landscape project developers to establish recommendations and select relevant case studies for dissemination. Ecologic Institute’s role is to participate in this working group and review the outputs of the discussions. 

Through these activities, Ecologic Institute helps ensure that CREDIBLE 2.0 delivers policy-relevant and practice-oriented results and shares learnings from the interviews and workshops through a policy note.