Temporary carbon units from carbon farming and EU agri-food climate policy

The report argues that temporary CRCF units from carbon farming are currently of low quality due to insufficient management of non-permanence and additionality risks, making them unsuitable for offsetting emissions. It assesses proposed EU agri-food policies—including an Agricultural Emissions Trading System (AgETS) and Mandatory Climate Standards (MCS)—concluding that allowing these units as offsets would undermine environmental integrity. The authors recommend shifting toward activity-based payments, either through a reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) or other public funding mechanisms, to promote carbon farming without the integrity risks associated with result-based crediting.

• Temporary CRCF units are currently deemed low-quality because the framework fails to adequately manage non-permanence and non-additionality risks, which could lead to significant overestimations of emission reductions.
• The CRCF lacks necessary liability and replacement requirements to address the temporary nature of carbon sequestration, particularly failing to specify consequences for the expiry of units or liability for replacements after the monitoring period ends.
• Integrating temporary CRCF units as offsets in proposed compliance policies like the AgETS or MCS would risk 'emission reduction deterrence,' where actors avoid actual emissions cuts by purchasing low-quality credits.
• A public procurement programme for CRCF units funded exclusively by public money is identified as a lower-risk alternative because it avoids offsetting and thus prevents environmental integrity risks.
• There is a high risk of double funding between the CRCF and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as many eligible carbon farming measures are already supported by CAP subsidies or mandatory standards (GAECs).
• Activity-based payments—paying for the implementation of a practice rather than a measured result—are recommended as a superior alternative for 'risky' carbon farming measures due to lower MRV costs and reduced risk for farmers.
• The draft CRCF methodology for peatland rewetting is criticized for incorrectly claiming that such activities result in permanent emission reductions, contradicting common carbon market practice.
• The report suggests that the 2026 review of the CRCF Regulation should be used to align the framework with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and strengthen quality requirements.

APA

McDonald, H., Gardiner, J., Scheid, A., Siemons, A., Fallasch, F., Scheffler, M., & Wiegmann, K. (2025). Temporary carbon units from carbon farming and EU agri-food climate policy. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/FINAL_Temporary-carbon-units-from-carbon-farming-and-EU-agri-food-climate-policy-.pdf

Chicago

McDonald, Hugh, Jonathan Gardiner, Aaron Scheid, Anne Siemons, Felix Fallasch, Margarethe Scheffler, and Kirsten Wiegmann. Temporary carbon units from carbon farming and EU agri-food climate policy. Carbon Market Watch, 2025. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/FINAL_Temporary-carbon-units-from-carbon-farming-and-EU-agri-food-climate-policy-.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{mcdonald2025temporary, author = {McDonald, Hugh and Gardiner, Jonathan and Scheid, Aaron and Siemons, Anne and Fallasch, Felix and Scheffler, Margarethe and Wiegmann, Kirsten}, title = {{Temporary carbon units from carbon farming and EU agri-food climate policy}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/FINAL_Temporary-carbon-units-from-carbon-farming-and-EU-agri-food-climate-policy-.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }