Celebrating Agriculture Day: Advancing Carbon Farming with MRV4SOC and MARVIC

As we celebrate Agriculture Day 2024, we spotlight the transformative role of carbon farming in combating climate change. This innovative approach is gaining momentum, thanks to European projects like MRV4SOC and MARVIC. Funded under the Horizon Europe Soil Mission, these initiatives are setting the stage for sustainable agriculture by enhancing the tools and methodologies needed to monitor, report, and verify carbon sequestration effectively.

Carbon farming is a forward-thinking practice that captures and stores atmospheric carbon in soils and forests. This not only mitigates the greenhouse effect but also boosts soil health and productivity. It's a crucial step towards transforming agriculture into a system that feeds the world while bolstering environmental and climate resilience.

Some of the most effective land management practices showing great promise include:

• Rewetting and restoring peatlands and wetlands: Bringing the water table back to drained peatlands reduces carbon emissions and enhances carbon storage.
• Agroforestry and mixed farming: Integrating trees or shrubs with crops and livestock improves carbon capture and supports biodiversity.
• Soil protection: Techniques such as catch crops, cover crops, conservation tillage, and hedgerows enhance soil health and carbon retention.
• Reforestation: Planting trees according to ecological principles fosters biodiversity and supports sustainable forest management.
• Efficient fertilizer use: Improving fertilizer application reduces nitrous oxide emissions and promotes a more sustainable farming system.

MRV4SOC: Setting New Standards for Carbon Monitoring

The MRV4SOC project—Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification of Soil Organic Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Balance—is at the forefront of refining carbon farming practices. As a leading member of the EU Expert Group on Carbon Removals, MRV4SOC is committed to developing reliable, transparent, and cost-effective tools in line with the JRC-European Soil Observatory Platform and the Carbon Removal Certification Framework regulation. Key focuses include:

· Measuring long-term soil organic carbon accumulation across various land use and cover classes in the EU.

· Assessing the impact of carbon farming practices on carbon flux dynamics.

· Evaluating the influence of climate change on soil organic carbon levels.

· Developing a robust MRV system to support results-based payments for sustainable practices.

· Identifying revenue opportunities to boost confidence in voluntary carbon markets.

These efforts are organized into a comprehensive Knowledge Hub, ensuring accessibility for farmers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

MARVIC: Supporting Carbon Removal and Certification

The MARVIC project—Monitoring, Reporting & Verification (MRV) systems for carbon farming—, on the other hand, aims to create a harmonized framework for Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems tailored to European agriculture. This framework supports the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) regulation, crucial for scaling up carbon removal activities and ensuring the credibility of carbon farming schemes across Europe. MARVIC focuses on:

· Developing an effective, robust, harmonized, context-specific MRV framework for carbon removals by agricultural activities.

· Aligning MRV systems with EU CRCF regulations for consistency and reliability.

· Balancing accuracy with cost-effectiveness to minimize administrative burdens.

· Addressing non-permanence risks associated with carbon sequestration in agriculture.

MARVIC investigates integrating various components—such as farm data, sampling strategies, benchmark sites, and remote sensing technologies—into efficient and reliable MRV systems.

European Carbon Farming Summit

The MRV4SOC and MARVIC projects will actively participate in the European Carbon Farming Summit, held in Dublin during 4-6 March 2025, in order to support high-level conversations to shape up robust carbon farming markets and policies. The event, organized by the EU-funded project CREDIBLE, represents a space for sharing knowledge and experiences, upscaling solutions and enabling the multiplication of climate actions across the European Union.

Looking ahead

As we advance, the collaborative endeavours of MRV4SOC and MARVIC represent a considerable advancement in the field of carbon farming. Their groundbreaking work not only strengthens our capacity to address climate change but also establishes a foundation for more sustainable and resilient agricultural practices. We anticipate the continued development and deployment of these essential tools and methodologies, which will be instrumental in achieving our collective objectives of environmental stewardship and climate action.

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