CREDIBLE

Building momentum and trust to achieve credible soil carbon farming in the EU

In the race against climate change, a solution lies beneath our feet: soil carbon farming. However, there is a lack of momentum and trust. The EU-funded CREDIBLE project aims to foster faith in carbon farming across the EU. At its core, it seeks to establish a network of networks that will serve as an intricate web connecting initiatives, projects and stakeholders dedicated to transparency, environmental integrity and standardised methodologies in soil carbon accounting. This network, initially scientific in nature, will metamorphose into a driving force for policy changes and business innovations. The project’s overall objectives include the development of a toolbox for advancing carbon farming, standards and policies, carbon monitoring through data repositories and discussions for broader implementation.

The main goal of the CREDIBLE project is to build momentum and trust for implementing carbon farming in the EU. This will be primarily achieved by setting up and moderating a network of initiatives/projects/stakeholders for favouring transparency, environmental integrity, and methodology standardisation in soil carbon accounting. Such a Network of Networks will be responsible for pushing forward multiple discussions and is expected to evolve from a primarily technical/scientific network at the project's onset into a process catalysing policy-making and business innovation toward its end. 

The transparent, open access, multi-actor dialogues required to build trust and co-create solutions will be orchestrated around three annual European Carbon Farming Summits, which will present opportunities for the NoN to interact with the broader stakeholder community and grow to the point it would attract further fundings for long term sustainability. 

Through the action, four specific objectives will be achieved: O1) to build and disseminate a practical toolbox for promoting carbon farming, capable of taking into account local land uses, best practices, and multi-actor interests; O2) to identify options for benchmarking and selecting standards, certification mechanisms, and policy instruments for carbon farming; O3) to favour the establishment of a network of soil carbon data collectors and repositories to improve measuring and monitoring carbon dynamics; O4) to build up processes and tools to drive conversations for the upscaling of carbon farming. CREDIBLE’s ambition is to support the European Commission and the Expert Group on Carbon Removal in identifying and upscaling solutions for soil carbon farming.

Project ID

101112951

Funding period

1 June 2023 - 31 May 2026

Total budget

€3,067,095.00

EU contribution

€3,067,095.00

Funding programme

Horizon Europe

Call for proposals

HORIZON-MISS-2022-SOIL-01

Type of action

Coordination and Support Actions

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
    Partially 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
    Partially targeted

Operational objectives

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

Cross-cutting dimensions

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

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