CAFAMORE
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Carbon Farming Monitoring and Registry
Total cost € 11 499 931.25 EU contribution € 11 499 931.25 Funding Programme Horizon Europe - Mission Soil

The European Commission is developing the first EU-wide voluntary framework for certifying carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products across Europe. By establishing EU quality criteria and laying down monitoring and reporting processes, the CRCF Regulation will facilitate the adoption of carbon farming solutions, while addressing greenwashing, and provides a "result-based" (quantified) remuneration system for farmers and foresters' climate performance. Key to the CRCF regulation are robust cost-effective Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems and a geographically explicit registry.

Therefore, the main goal of CAFAMORE is to develop an EU-wide parcel level monitoring approach for Carbon Farming, with harmonisation and automation of data collection, robust and cost-effective quantification of activities and baselines, a spatially explicit registry and a robust market place. This will be accompanied by an in-depth assessment of the carbon markets and business strategies for carbon farming. CAFAMORE will facilitate certification schemes by providing tools for the quantification and monitoring of Carbon Farming activities through providing operational processing chains that connect earth observation data, soil and management data and models, including changes in SOC stocks, woody biomass and soil N2O emissions. This parcel-level data collection infrastructure can also serve companies for their CSRD reporting and member states for their National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The MRV approaches and tools will be tested with farmers and certification actors in seven pilot countries, covering the main climatic zones and the diversity in European agriculture. The digital infrastructure and MRV tools will reduce the administrative burden for land managers, provide transparency over collected data and certificates and trust to the Carbon Farming market, which should increase the attractiveness of carbon farming.

HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01

Thematic areas

Biodiversity Business dimension Carbon farming Soil monitoring and indicators

Project contribution to Mission Soil’s:

Specific objectives

  • 1. Reduce land degradation relating to desertification
    Not targeted
  • 2. Conserve and increase soil organic carbon stocks
    Targeted
  • 3. No net soil sealing and increase the reuse of urban soils
    Not targeted
  • 4. Reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration
    Not targeted
  • 5. Prevent erosion
    Not targeted
  • 6. Improve soil structure to enhance habitat quality for soil biota and crops
    Partially targeted
  • 7. Reduce the EU global footprint on soils
    Not targeted
  • 8. Increase soil literacy in society across Member States
    Not targeted

Operational objectives

  • 1. Build capacities and the knowledge base for soil stewardship
    Not targeted
  • 2. Co-create and upscale place-based innovations to improve soil health in all places
    Not targeted
  • 3. Develop an integrated EU soil monitoring system and track progress towards soil health
    Targeted
  • 4. Engage with the soil user community and society at large
    Partially targeted

Innovation hotspots

  • 1. Carbon farming
    Targeted
  • 2. Soil pollution and restoration
    Not targeted
  • 3. Soil biodiversity including the microbiome
    Targeted
  • 4. Circular economy solutions
    Not targeted

Cross-cutting dimensions

  • 1. Business
    Targeted
  • 2. Digital
    Partially targeted
  • 3. Territorial
    Not targeted
  • 4. International
    Not targeted

© European Union, 2024. Image sources: Adobe.Stock.com