New report on current business models and carbon credits linked to soil carbon sequestration in agricultural lands

Limiting the global average temperature increase to below 1.5 degrees Celsius requires rapid and immense reductions of global greenhouse gas emissions, as well as carbon dioxide removals from the atmosphere. Carbon farming is highlighted as an important part to reach net removals by both the EU Commission and the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). At the end of 2022 the European Commission presented a proposal for a certification framework for the uptake and capture of carbon dioxide. However, quantifying, verifying, and certifying carbon storage in agricultural land is associated with several difficulties. Measuring carbon storage is expensive and difficult within shorter time frames, moreover the process is reversible and once stored carbon can be lost to the atmosphere due to natural or anthropogenic causes. An important aspect is therefore how stored carbon can be monitored at a feasible cost. Other important aspects are credible baselines against which stored carbon is compared, and how land managers with high initial carbon stocks can benefit from such a system.

These questions are not the least important in the context of carbon credits. The voluntary carbon market now also offers credits created through carbon storage in agricultural land. The credits follow different programs and provide various types of credits, such as credits for climate compensation “offset credits” or credits to achieve national or global climate goals “contribution credits”. The report summarizes different carbon credit programs and how they treat the issue of permanency.

Carbon storage is not only relevant for reaching national or global climate goals. Companies within the land use sector wish to report the effect of carbon sequestration in corporate climate reporting, or in life cycle analysis of food or bio-based products. This report compiles some of the newest standards in the field and the requirements on reporting and quantifying carbon storage.

Among the various farming practices described for increased carbon stocks, biochar is highlighted, as it is resistant to decomposition and thus has potential to meet the strict requirements for permanence set by some of the standards.

Carbon storage in agricultural land differs from other carbon-removal methods that have the sole purpose of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while the main purpose of agriculture is to provide food and feed. An identified risk with carbon storage is increased nitrous oxide emissions, as nitrogen content in soil increases with increased carbon content. Further, decomposition rates of soil carbon are positively correlated to increased temperatures, which is a factor that needs to be considered from a long-term perspective, as global average temperatures are rising.

This work has been financed by the internal RISE investment Sustainable farm.

Read the report here (in Swedish).