Position Paper: Enabling Carbon Farming in the EU

This report is a direct response to the European Commission open consultation on the roadmap to its initiative titled “Climate change – restoring sustainable carbon cycles”, which was open from September to October 2021.

The objective of the consultation was to gather input to inform EU policy on how best to support the sustainable development of solutions for carbon removal from forests, agriculture and engineered solutions, an element that is expected to play a big role in achieving the Green Deal objective of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. This input fed into the Communication adopted by the Commission in December 2021.

EIT Food is the largest agrifood innovation network in the EU, and we operate in a unique position at the intersection of academia, business, policy, and consumers. In the report, we use this insight to highlight four main pillars on which we believe policy action should focus to maximise impact:

1. Involvement throughout the value chain;
2. Deployment of technological solutions;
3. Financial incentives for farmers;
4. Education and training.

The position paper also outlines EIT Food’s current engagement in enabling new green business models and climate-smart solutions which reward farmers for climate-positive practices, including its collaboration with other key stakeholders in the Carbon+ Farming Coalition.

Read EIT Food’s full response, and find out more about our portfolio of projects to facilitate this important transition by downloading the document below.