Event - Workshop

Good Practice Workshop: Assessing the contribution of carbon farming to CAP climate objectives

The EU CAP Network, supported by the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP, and the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, organised the seventh Good Practice Workshop on ‘Assessing the contribution of carbon farming to CAP climate objectives’ in Nantes, France, on 24 – 25 June 2024.

Organised by EU CAP Network
24 Jun 2024, 12:00 - 25 Jun 2024, 13:00 CEST
English
Le Palace - Icilundi - Nantes, France
In-person

Background

Enhancing carbon sequestration is one of the most pressing needs for mitigating climate change and contributing to the European Green Deal target of climate neutrality. To this end, the land sector plays a central role in reaching a climate-neutral economy, as it can capture CO2 from the atmosphere. At the same time, the land sector is vulnerable to the effects of climate change and can be a source of emissions, especially when soils are degraded. This is why the EU supports practices such as carbon farming, to promote sustainability and resilience in agriculture and forestry. The goals of the European Green Deal have been translated into a number of EU communications and laws, such as the Sustainable Carbon Cycles Communication, the Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation, the proposed Soil Monitoring and Forest Monitoring Laws, and the LULUCF Regulation.

CAP Strategic Plans operationalise one of the key objectives of the CAP: to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sequestration (Specific Objective 4). The CAP has increased its climate ambitions for the 2023-2027 period by allocating more funds to environmental objectives, thus encouraging carbon farming, and strengthening ties to climate-related legislation. Member States are expected to assess carbon storage and the practices that contribute to it, in the context of their CAP Strategic Plan evaluations.

The seventh Workshop therefore aimed to capitalise on and deepen the experiences of Member States in evaluating the contribution of carbon farming interventions to the climate objectives of the CAP, and prepare the Member States for future evaluations of this topic.

Objectives

Increase the evaluation knowledge of stakeholders involved in the evaluation of carbon farming interventions and/or practices in the context of CAP Strategic Plans.
Exchange practical experiences from past evaluations on climate change mitigation, including the assessment of measures that contribute to carbon conservation and sequestration in agriculture and forestry.
Provide an opportunity for networking and identification of needs for further support for Managing Authorities, CAP networks, and evaluators in relation to the evaluation framework for assessing the contribution of carbon farming to CAP climate objectives.

Target Audience

The Workshop has been an opportunity for Managing Authorities, Paying Agencies, CAP networks, evaluators, and other evaluation stakeholders in the Member States, as well as EU-level evaluation experts, to exchange with each other. Climate experts, with specific knowledge of carbon farming, also assisted the Workshop to provide specialised input on evaluation elements and approaches useful for assessing this topic. Please note that the workshop will be held in English.

Should you have any queries or require further information, please contact the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP under evaluation@eucapnetwork.eu.