The opportunities of agri-carbon markets: policy and practice
There are many corporations setting net zero targets and looking to carbon removal offsets to help them achieve these goals. There is a potential opportunity for farmers and land managers to take advantage of a new income stream selling carbon credits.
However, there is uncertainty about how much carbon can be sequestered in an agricultural setting in soils, hedges and on-farm trees. Furthermore, measuring the amount of carbon stored, and ensuring it remains stored in the long term are particularly challenging in an agri-carbon context.
In this report we review the scientific evidence on different interventions for sequestering carbon on working farms, and outline the challenges that need to be addressed in order for there to be a credible and sustainable market for agri-carbon.
We highlight the benefits of working within the food supply chain to reduce emissions and sequester carbon, the need for strong standards, including a UK Farm Soil Carbon Code to ensure carbon is accurately measured and safely stored, and propose that new governance may be needed to ensure those buying offsets are also reducing their own emissions.
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