On 31 July 2024, the mayors of the Colombian cities of Villa Rica, Hato Nuevo, El Charco, and Ospina visited the Ecologic Institute as part of a study trip organized by the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities, and Local Government Associations (FLACMA).

Livestock GHG-emissions are a significant contributor to agricultural GHG emissions. The latest Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funding period has integrated several funding mechanisms designed to support the implementation of environmental and climate friendly practices through measures such as the eco-schemes and the agri-environmental-climate measures. Despite these positive approaches to reduce the emissions from livestock, the CAP still entails the risk of subsidizing high-emissions livestock production, in particular through coupled income support. This underlines the need for better understanding CAP funding mechanism for effective reduction of livestock emissions.

As part of the Credible project, we invite stakeholders and citizens to participate in the discussion on carbon farming in the EU by providing feedback on the project reports during this public consultation. This is your opportunity to influence the ongoing development of the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) and the wider discussion on carbon farming in the EU. The feedback provided through your comments during the public consultation will be shared with the wider expert community and policy makers to ensure that EU policy on carbon farming works with and for farmers and delivers climate and biodiversity benefits.

A major step was made by recruiting almost 1500 farms located in 26 EU countries, showcasing a wide range of agricultural systems. The majority are dedicated to animal husbandry and mix farming systems, followed by specialized arable crops and finally, horticulture crops. Around 25% of the total farms, across sectors, are organic farms.

Ecologic Institute was part of the first European Carbon Farming Summit, which took place from 6 to 7 March 2024 in Valencia. This event gathered hundreds of people from academia, the private and public sector, farmers and farmers associations who engaged in the discussion around the upcoming EU Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF). Aaron Scheid and Julia Pazmiño Murillo shared the outcomes of their work as part of the CREDIBLE Project and hosted a breakout session to discuss the minimum requirements to ensure carbon farming delivers sustainability benefits within the CRCF framework and beyond.

CREDIBLE functions as a knowledge hub for driving carbon farming forwards. It is organised as a network of networks, involving existing research projects, initiatives, commercial sectors and public administrations.