The French Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, welcomed, on Tuesday 8 February in Strasbourg, after a debate on low-carbon agriculture, “a shared approach” at EU Council-level reconciling soil carbon capture and the creation of economic value (remuneration).
“I felt the unanimous interest of the Member States on the subject”, he commended.
At their informal meeting on carbon sequestration in agricultural soils and forests, EU Agriculture Ministers also identified “levers” to boost low-carbon agriculture, according to the current President of the Agriculture Council (see EUROPE 12885/3): - national or European-level agriculture and forestry practices; - the creation of mechanisms to economically value soil carbon capture, or agricultural carbon credits (additional effort in terms of capture, transparency, and credibility).
The Commission will present a proposal for a European framework for the certification of such carbon credits later this year.
Farmers will have to be supported in implementing initiatives on the ground and the European carbon credit will have to be more expensive than the South American carbon credit, said Mr Denormandie.
The Agriculture Council is expected to adopt conclusions on low-carbon agriculture in March or April. The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) will debate a first draft of conclusions on the subject on 14 February.
More cautious countries. Cem Özdemir, the German Federal Minister of Agriculture, said that double funding through CAP eco-regimes and measures related to carbon storage in agricultural soils should be avoided.
The day before, he had explained to some journalists that ‘carbon farming’ could lead to helping agriculture and forestry make a contribution to climate protection. Some measures are particularly suitable, for example those that increase the humus content of the soil. In recent years, some certification systems have been put in place, the German Minister added.
“We would like to see a number of technical issues clarified, including the sustainability of CO2, the reversibility of the measure, avoidance of emissions displacement, and biodiversity”, Mr Özdemir continued.
On Tuesday, Austrian Minister Elisabeth Köstinger said that no new framework for carbon storage needed to be created, but that the existing framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be retained, including the possibilities offered by the second pillar of rural development.
A legislative proposal by the end of 2022. Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, recalled that in December 2020 the Commission had recommended that Member States consider proposing “specific interventions for carbon sinks” in the CAP strategic plans. “On the basis of the draft strategic plans currently being assessed, I can already confirm that eco-regimes and rural development measures are being used by many Member States for this purpose”, he welcomed.
However, for more ambitious measures, such as set-aside or nature restoration, additional funding outside the CAP is needed, according to the Commissioner.
“By establishing a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals, the EU will put in place the instrument for the transparent identification of solutions that actually remove CO2 from the atmosphere”, Mr Wojciechowski continued.
Certification will be based on robust and transparent carbon accounting and the proposal is announced for the end of 2022.
The European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) has criticised the Commission’s Communication on sustainable carbon cycles on the grounds that the strategy is “insufficient to successfully achieve the objectives of the EU Green Deal”. ECVC said it was “concerned about the proposed certification mechanism and the focus on carbon credits”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)