This August 2022, thanks to coordination of PEFC Italy the A5 action of LIFE C-FARMs project has started collecting results from A1, A2 and A3 actions to create a Carbon farming certification scheme. The final goal is a model of voluntary application that will generate additional rewards and supplementary contributions to the farmers, thanks to an incentive payment interface set at national level.
First of all, the methodological framework for the assessment will be defined selecting the agricultural best practice to increase the sink of Carbon in the C pools and/or to decrease emission from C-Farming activities will be identified. Each good practice will be analysed to set up the best way to quantify its GHG benefits using data collected in previous actions A2 and A3. Then to define the real benefit due to the application of good practice the baseline, that is the level against which the GHG benefits of the carbon farming, will be assessed.
The global benefit of Carbon farming will also be assured by defining the permanence of mitigation benefits as well as the co-benefits generated by the activities in terms of adaptation performance, biodiversity, and soil/water/air quality.
Then the institutional arrangement for the certification system will be analysed mapping and defining the actors involved and their respective responsibility and roles among auditing and monitoring of the application of the C-farming practices considered.
The proposed scheme will also take into consideration other international national rules. Stakeholders will be mapped and involved to ensure a comprehensive and well-balanced consultation process, which aims to increase awareness on the scheme.
Moreover, to contribute to the GHG inventory at national level a new system for data collection at farm level based on standardized procedures targeting the main parameters (e.g. soil carbon sampling, collection of diameter and height of trees etc.) will be proposed.
Finally, an interface with the national GHG inventory system with CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) incentive payment at national level will be set up. For this aim emission factors and stratification systems will be built in coherence with data and methodologies applied (or planned) within the National GHG inventory and accounting processes within the European regulation.
This action will stop at the end of January 2023.
