A key component of MARVIC’s work towards building trust around carbon farming and supporting the implementation of Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems is to understand the needs and barriers of different sectors, and include them in the project’s framework. In this context, MARVIC has set up a series of End-User Forums, where the project experts interact with diverse stakeholders to bring their insights and ensure that MARVIC outcomes are user-centred and capable of being upscaled. Now, two of these Forums have delivered their first public reports.
Led by Edouard Lanckriet (Agrosolutions), the Market End-User Forum organised two webinars and a cycle of 10 bilateral interviews, focusing on the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation and on methodology issues to bridge MRV systems for Scope 3 reporting and carbon credits sold in the voluntary carbon market. The webinars gathered altogether more than 400 participants, mainly future users of the CRCF such as project developers, farmers or farmers’ representatives, agricultural cooperatives and companies in the agri-food sector.
The presentations, which can be revisited here, featured experts such as Valeria Forlin (DG CLIMA), Kim Schoppink (SBTi), Matt Ramlow (GHG Protocol), Marion Verles (SustainCERT), Naomi Montenegro Navarro (Value Change Initiative), Jan Peter Lesschen (CAFAMORE project) and Ichsani Wheeler (OGCR project). The webinars also included a survey among participants, which allowed to unearth areas of consensus and remaining gaps.
As these interactions have shown, the CRCF is perceived as a major opportunity to structure a credible and scalable agricultural carbon market, with significantly higher remuneration for farmers than current voluntary markets. However, major uncertainties remain about demand drivers, the nature of claims associated with CRCF units, and how value will be maintained across heterogeneous methods and pedoclimatic contexts. Moreover, clear rules are urgently needed to align CRCF credits with corporate Scope 3 reporting, and coherence between the CRCF and EU policies on climate, soils, bioenergy, and biodiversity is instrumental for its success.
The webinars and interviews also approached issues such as methodological aspects for quantification, modelling and data quality, with a strong consensus regarding the support to the use of open-source approaches. A centralised EU registry was also a key discussion point, with its importance as a key operational tool to manage MRV, Scope 3 reporting, and double counting being highlighted.
Find more details on these and other insights in the full report, and check the outcomes of the Climate Advocacy Forum here. The work of these Forums will continue in the coming months, with a final report expected by the end of the project.
