Presented at the European Carbon Farming Summit 2026, this poster highlights key findings on the risks, opportunities and policy implications of integrating temporary carbon units from carbon farming into EU agri-food climate policy.

From 17 to 19 March 2026, the European Carbon Farming Summit 2026 brought together leading voices from policy, research, private sector and practitioners to discuss the role of carbon farming in Europe’s climate and agricultural transition. Ecologic Institute, as part of the CREDIBLE and CAFAMORE consortia, has actively contributed to the programme, sharing insights from its work on carbon markets, agricultural finance, and land-use governance.

Hugh McDonald and Julia Pazmino from Ecologic Institute led the session "Ensuring sustainability outcomes from carbon farming: Recommendations for the CRCF and voluntary carbon markets" at the Second European Carbon Summit 2025. Hugh joined a panel on policy areas for carbon farming, while Julia shared insights on rewarding mechanisms for farmers.

This Deliverable presents the work of the CREDIBLE Focus Group 2.1, "Minimum requirements to ensure carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits". The objective of the Focus Group and the goal of this document is to make recommendations on how the CRCF can maximize the positive impact of carbon farming on biodiversity, adaptation, water and other sustainability outcomes, at the same time as mitigating climate change.

Carbon farming allows farmers to mitigate climate change, but these practices also impact other sustainability outcomes, including biodiversity, soil health, and water. In this brief, we propose how the EU's regulation establishing a Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF) can ensure that carbon farming also delivers sustainability benefits, in the context of carbon farming on mineral soils.

As part of the Credible project, we invite stakeholders and citizens to participate in the discussion on carbon farming in the EU by providing feedback on the project reports during this public consultation. This is your opportunity to influence the ongoing development of the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) and the wider discussion on carbon farming in the EU. The feedback provided through your comments during the public consultation will be shared with the wider expert community and policy makers to ensure that EU policy on carbon farming works with and for farmers and delivers climate and biodiversity benefits.

As part of Project Credible, we invite stakeholders and citizens to join the discussion on carbon farming in the EU by providing feedback on the project reports during this public consultation. This is your opportunity to shape the ongoing development of the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) and the broader discussion on carbon farming in the EU. The feedback you provide in the public consultations will be shared with the broader expert community and policymakers to ensure that EU carbon farming policy works with and for farmers, delivering climate and biodiversity benefits.

Ecologic Institute was part of the first European Carbon Farming Summit, which took place from 6 to 7 March 2024 in Valencia. This event gathered hundreds of people from academia, the private and public sector, farmers and farmers associations who engaged in the discussion around the upcoming EU Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF). Aaron Scheid and Julia Pazmiño Murillo shared the outcomes of their work as part of the CREDIBLE Project and hosted a breakout session to discuss the minimum requirements to ensure carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits within the CRCF framework and beyond.

CREDIBLE functions as a knowledge hub for driving carbon farming forwards. It is organised as a network of networks, involving existing research projects, initiatives, commercial sectors and public administrations.