EU must not bet the farm on carbon credits

The author contends that the EU's CRCF framework relies on unscientific methodologies and lacks social safeguards, potentially fueling 'green-grabbing' and land inequality. The document further criticizes the proposed next phase of the CAP for lacking a ringfenced budget for environmental action and granting member states too much autonomy, which may lead to a 'race to the bottom' regarding environmental safeguards. It concludes that carbon and nature credits are unsuitable tools for ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers.

• The EU's Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework is criticized for using unscientific draft methodologies that may not provide any climate benefit, resulting from an attempt to reduce administrative burdens for small-scale farmers by avoiding prescribed quantification models and setting baselines to zero.
• The CRCF framework lacks effective social safeguards against land speculation and 'green-grabbing'—where governments and corporations purchase land for carbon and biodiversity offsets—despite mentions of these risks in the Regulation's recitals.
• Green-grabbing has contributed to increased land inequality, with land prices tripling in central and eastern Europe and sparking private investor land acquisition in Scotland.
• The proposed next phase of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is criticized for merging funds into a €865 billion National and Regional Partnership (NRP) fund that lacks a ringfenced budget for environmental and climate action.
• The proposed CAP structure risks fragmentation and a 'race to the bottom' for environmental safeguards because it allows member states significant autonomy in allocating NRP funds, putting agricultural measures in competition with other policy areas like fisheries and cohesion.

APA

Marlène (2025). EU must not bet the farm on carbon credits. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/10/09/eu-must-not-bet-the-farm-on-carbon-credits/

Chicago

Marlène. EU must not bet the farm on carbon credits. Carbon Market Watch, 2025. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/10/09/eu-must-not-bet-the-farm-on-carbon-credits/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Marlène |title=EU must not bet the farm on carbon credits |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=9 October 2025 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/10/09/eu-must-not-bet-the-farm-on-carbon-credits/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{marlne2025must, author = {Marlène}, title = {{EU must not bet the farm on carbon credits}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2025}, month = oct, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2025/10/09/eu-must-not-bet-the-farm-on-carbon-credits/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }