EU must say no to carbon farming and yes to environmental stewardship

The author contends that 'carbon farming' activities are unsuitable for carbon removal certification because they provide temporary, volatile storage that risks enabling greenwashing and delaying actual emission reductions. Instead of market-based carbon credits, the document proposes 'activity-based finance' to support farmers and foresters in adopting nature-based practices, funded by public resources or polluter-pays instruments.

• The European Commission's proposed Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) is flawed due to its focus on 'carbon farming', which involves storing carbon in vegetation and soils. These activities are not true carbon removals because they do not store carbon dioxide permanently (defined as at least two centuries) and are vulnerable to human and natural disturbances.
• Using carbon farming credits to tackle the climate crisis is risky for three reasons: the high cost and uncertainty of monitoring soil carbon sequestration, the risk that temporary removals will be used to falsely label entities as net-zero or climate neutral, and the danger that cheap credits will substitute for urgent emission reductions.
• Certification schemes for carbon farming can be detrimental to land managers. Farmers and forest owners may face financial liability for carbon reversals caused by climate-exacerbated disturbances like fires and floods. Additionally, a similar scheme in France demonstrated that only about 60% of funds reached farmers, with the remainder going to intermediaries.
• The document proposes replacing results-based carbon credits with 'activity-based finance'. This approach supports the adoption of good environmental practices without requiring carbon quantification, thereby removing the risk of greenwashing and the liability for farmers.
• Funding for environmental stewardship should shift from voluntary carbon markets to public resources and polluter-pays instruments. Suggested sources include the EU Emission Trading System, the Common Agriculture Policy, and funding for the EU’s Nature Restoration Law or the upcoming Soil Health Law.

APA

Stoefs, W. (2023). EU must say no to carbon farming and yes to environmental stewardship. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/03/23/eu-must-say-no-to-carbon-farming-and-yes-to-environmental-stewardship/

Chicago

Stoefs, Wijnand. EU must say no to carbon farming and yes to environmental stewardship. Carbon Market Watch, 2023. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/03/23/eu-must-say-no-to-carbon-farming-and-yes-to-environmental-stewardship/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Stoefs |first1=Wijnand |title=EU must say no to carbon farming and yes to environmental stewardship |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=23 March 2023 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/03/23/eu-must-say-no-to-carbon-farming-and-yes-to-environmental-stewardship/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{stoefs2023must, author = {Stoefs, Wijnand}, title = {{EU must say no to carbon farming and yes to environmental stewardship}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/03/23/eu-must-say-no-to-carbon-farming-and-yes-to-environmental-stewardship/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }