Carbon farming with a focus on soil carbon sequestration, the role of law

Description

I will introduce the current legal debate on carbon farming by first briefly sketching the bigger picture of how and to what extent on-farm carbon emissions (both direct emissions and uptake) are now regulated in the EU and beyond. After years of neglect, this topic now seems to get much more attention as was evident during COP28 in Dubai, and as is shown by the European Commission that is now looking into the EU ETS as a possible vehicle to reduce direct emissions from agriculture and to increase carbon sequestration on farmland.

Then, I will briefly present our recent research into current carbon farming offset schemes in Canada, California, and Australia. What are the experiences there, and what is, or has been, the role of law? Globally, there is a large unregulated market for carbon credits that on the one hand can be attractive for farmers, but that on the other hand is heavily criticized. Regulatory intervention clearly is needed to make these credits real, verifiable and additional. That is why the European Commission, in 2022, published the proposal for a Regulation on an EU certification for carbon removals, which I will briefly discuss.

Finally, I will move to on-farm soil carbon sequestration specifically: what are the experiences with this carbon farming methodology in Canada and Australia and why is this specific form of carbon farming so difficult to regulate? I will focus on MRV and permanence as major stumbling blocks. It is clear that increasing soil carbon has many co-benefits and even is essential to increase soil health, restore biodiversity, adapt to climate change and increase food security. The question is, though, whether this can be achieved through a climate pricing/rewarding mechanism or whether other regulatory instruments are better suited.

Period	16 Jan 2024
Held at	Ruralis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Degree of Recognition	International