Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CREDIBLE (Building momentum and trust to achieve credible soil carbon farming in the EU)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2024-11-30
In the race against climate change, a solution lies beneath our feet: soil carbon farming. However, there is a lack of momentum and trust. The EU-funded CREDIBLE project aims to foster faith in carbon farming across Europe. At its core, it seeks to establish a network of networks that will serve as an intricate web connecting initiatives, projects and stakeholders dedicated to transparency, environmental integrity and standardised methodologies in soil carbon accounting. This network, initially scientific in nature, will metamorphose into a driving force for policy changes and business innovations. Key to this endeavour is the organisation of three annual European Carbon Farming Summits where multi actor dialogues will culminate, and actions for the continuous development of carbon markets and policies will be taken. On the other hand, an "inspirational platform" will be built with the goal of fostering local collaborations toward regional climate actions, representing knowledge-sharing and networking tools for stakeholders with different needs and knowledge.
CREDIBLE aims to achieve four specific objectives: 1) build and disseminate a practical toolbox to promote carbon farming; 2) identify benchmarking options for carbon farming; 3) favour establishment of a network of soil carbon data collectors and repositories; 4) drive conversations for upscaling carbon farming practices. CREDIBLE's ambition is to support the European Commission and the Expert Group on Carbon Removal in identifying and scaling solutions for soil carbon farming. The transparent, open-access, multi-actor dialogues orchestrated through the summits will build trust and co-create solutions, enabling networks to interact with the broader stakeholder community and attract further funding for long-term sustainability.
CREDIBLE aims to achieve four specific objectives: 1) build and disseminate a practical toolbox to promote carbon farming; 2) identify benchmarking options for carbon farming; 3) favour establishment of a network of soil carbon data collectors and repositories; 4) drive conversations for upscaling carbon farming practices. CREDIBLE's ambition is to support the European Commission and the Expert Group on Carbon Removal in identifying and scaling solutions for soil carbon farming. The transparent, open-access, multi-actor dialogues orchestrated through the summits will build trust and co-create solutions, enabling networks to interact with the broader stakeholder community and attract further funding for long-term sustainability.
Between June 2023 and November 2024, the consortium performed the following work:
•Establishment of Focus Groups: Across the three work packages, 11 FGs were formed outlining their specific purposes and according to that, inviting members who were sought among the consortium partners as well as beyond it, searching an add value and real expertise in each focus group topic. Focus groups conducted online and on-site meetings, presenting their initial reports, along with first recommendations across 10 topics. The diversity of focus groups topics provided a basis for discussions between different actors – consortium partners, policy makers, scientists and farmers. The governance guidelines for the management of focus groups helped their leaders to perform daily tasks. The Project Coordinator also created a monitoring and reporting system that helped work package leaders oversee the work done by focus groups.
•Organisation of the 1st EU Carbon Farming Summit: The conference was a major success, with over 600 participants. The 1st summit featured 11 breakout sessions, 4 panel discussions, 2 engagement sessions, 50 “pitches” to stimulate conversations. The discussions during breakout sessions were based on initial reports prepared by 11 focus groups. To support organisation and continue the communication and dissemination activities after the 1st conference on carbon farming, a summit website was designed and developed.
•Launch of public consultations, which were aimed at disseminating work done by focus groups, along with insights generated during the summit breakout sessions and attract feedback to improve the recommendations. Public consultations were supported by the project website, where focus groups’ reports were shared with the wider audience. Despite some technical issues, the feedback received enriched Focus Groups’ outputs, broadened networks and supported CREDIBLE team in preparation of the 2nd EU CFS.
•Design of the CREDIBLE Inspirational Platform: To date, its development has progressed largely in line with the planned timeline. The initial platform framework (content and design) was presented to the consortium. Continuous feedback from partners and discussions on specific content facilitated the near-final completion of the Inspirational Platform framework by the end of the 1st reporting period. The implementation phase will begin soon.
•Establishment of Focus Groups: Across the three work packages, 11 FGs were formed outlining their specific purposes and according to that, inviting members who were sought among the consortium partners as well as beyond it, searching an add value and real expertise in each focus group topic. Focus groups conducted online and on-site meetings, presenting their initial reports, along with first recommendations across 10 topics. The diversity of focus groups topics provided a basis for discussions between different actors – consortium partners, policy makers, scientists and farmers. The governance guidelines for the management of focus groups helped their leaders to perform daily tasks. The Project Coordinator also created a monitoring and reporting system that helped work package leaders oversee the work done by focus groups.
•Organisation of the 1st EU Carbon Farming Summit: The conference was a major success, with over 600 participants. The 1st summit featured 11 breakout sessions, 4 panel discussions, 2 engagement sessions, 50 “pitches” to stimulate conversations. The discussions during breakout sessions were based on initial reports prepared by 11 focus groups. To support organisation and continue the communication and dissemination activities after the 1st conference on carbon farming, a summit website was designed and developed.
•Launch of public consultations, which were aimed at disseminating work done by focus groups, along with insights generated during the summit breakout sessions and attract feedback to improve the recommendations. Public consultations were supported by the project website, where focus groups’ reports were shared with the wider audience. Despite some technical issues, the feedback received enriched Focus Groups’ outputs, broadened networks and supported CREDIBLE team in preparation of the 2nd EU CFS.
•Design of the CREDIBLE Inspirational Platform: To date, its development has progressed largely in line with the planned timeline. The initial platform framework (content and design) was presented to the consortium. Continuous feedback from partners and discussions on specific content facilitated the near-final completion of the Inspirational Platform framework by the end of the 1st reporting period. The implementation phase will begin soon.
CREDIBLE is a Coordination and Support Action, which meaning its project activities were mostly designed to consolidate and disseminate previous knowledge. Therefore, some of the key outputs planned by the consortium were technical reports capturing expert conversations within Focus Groups coordinated by CREDIBLE's partners. The topics for these discussions were chosen based on the expected needs, at the time of proposal writing, manifested by the EC in the process of creating the Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF). In the first year of the project, the Focus Groups produced and published 10 initial reports. These reports were shared with relevant units in DG Agri and DG Clima and should be considered as an initial capturing of knowledge. Each FG aims to generate a deliverable by the end of the project, and these reports are milestones toward that goal. Additionally, two outputs from CREDIBLE may be of particular interest to the Committee reviewing the 1st periodic report. Firstly, a fact-sheet template that could describe the main characteristics of an agronomic practice suitable for carbon farming. The consortium hoped to create a format that capture the interest of land managers (in contrast to the EIP Agri practice abstract). The designed template used to describe the potential of cover crops in olive orchards. If relevant, the experts behind the definition of such a fact sheet are available for further discussion on how this could be useful to the broader EU innovation ecosystem. Secondly, it is important to highlight the existence of the European Carbon Farming Summit, an event designed and hosted by the CREDIBLE consortium. The first edition (March 2024) attracted over 600 participants (approximately 265 in-person and online). The second summit (March 2025) is expected to double up these numbers, showing the great interest the subject is attracting.