• Nature

Unlocking Carbon Farming as a Business Model in North-West Europe

Client: Multitel (Lead Partner), Boerenbond Projects, Constellr GmbH, Development Agency East Netherlands NV, Green Restoration Ireland Co-Operative Society Ltd, Lower Saxony Network Renewable Resources and Bioeconomy e.V., Own Capital of the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Southern Agriculture and Horticulture Organisation, Teagasc – Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Tgo AG, Ver de Terre Production

 

Date: 2024-2027

Location: North-West Europe

Carbon farming holds transformative potential for the agricultural sector in North-West Europe by turning farms into carbon sinks while providing farmers with an additional revenue stream and providing key ecosystem benefits such as improved soil health. To help unlock this potential, Bax’s Nature & Agriculture team is coordinating Smart Carbon Farming, an Interreg North West Europe initiative running from 2024 to 2027. This project aims to modernise the agricultural sector by validating innovative monitoring solutions, aligning policies, and training farmers to adopt sustainable practices with increased innovation capacity.

Challenge

While carbon farming offers the promise of environmental and economic benefits, it faces significant barriers to implementation. The accurate measurement and verification of stored carbon are essential for its viability as a business model but remain prohibitively expensive and technically challenging.

Farmers also struggle with fragmented policies, governance gaps, and a lack of access to practical, actionable solutions, making it difficult to adopt carbon farming on a broad scale.

Approach

Bax is working with the consortium to address these challenges through three main areas of focus. First, the project facilitates the customisation and pilot testing of innovative monitoring technologies, making it easier and more cost-effective for farmers to measure and verify soil carbon levels. Second, Bax supports alignment between policymakers, researchers, and farmers to integrate carbon farming into regional and national policy frameworks, creating incentives for adoption and ensuring accountability. Finally, the project designs and delivers training programmes to equip farmers with the knowledge and tools needed to adopt carbon farming practices, fostering peer-to-peer learning and building innovation capacity.

The Smart Carbon Farming project sets the foundation for unlocking carbon farming as a viable business model. By validating monitoring solutions, aligning policies, and equipping farmers with the skills they need, the project is enabling the agricultural sector in North-West Europe to modernise and contribute meaningfully to climate action. This initiative demonstrates how targeted support and collaboration can overcome key barriers, paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future.

Impact

Piloting budget
0 M
Carbon monitoring solutions validated
0
Farmers trained
0

Project team

Roger Negredo
European Programmes Consultant
Gerard Don
Innovation Consultant
Digital
Nature
Caitlin Ball
Communications Consultant
Nature
Urban
Max Meijer
Innovation Consultant
Nature

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