Financial compensation for foresters to keep their soil healthy
Swedish Operational Group turns forest residues into a soil and climate solution.
- Sweden
Recently, the EU CAP Network organised a workshop 'Circular bioeconomy - valorisation of forest by-products' that took place in Kouvola, Finland.
The EU CAP Network also published a thematic newsletter on the valorisation of forestry by-products.
Read how the Swedish EIP-AGRI Operational Group ‘Carbon Credits with Biochar’ is set to transform a pressing climate challenge into a bioeconomic opportunity thanks to forestry by-products.
The Swedish EIP-AGRI Operational Group ‘Carbon Credits with Biochar’ is set to transform a pressing climate challenge into a bioeconomic opportunity.
Project manager Cecilia Hermansson explains: ‘We want to create a functioning market where farmers are financially rewarded for storing carbon in soil using biochar, a stable form of carbon made from, for example, forest residues that can store carbon for centuries’.
The project combines technical, ecological, and market solutions to develop a certified and verifiable carbon credit system. By doing so, it connects forest biomass valorisation with climate restoration and sustainable farming practices.
This EIP-AGRI Operational Group is pioneering a certification scheme for carbon credits using biochar. Cecilia Hermansson explains: "We aim to establish a certified and viable national certification standard for biochar-based sinks, allowing for compensation to foresters and farmers for sequestering carbon in soils. At the same time, a verified system allows companies to purchase these local, transparent, and long-term credits." This creates a link between forest biomass utilisation, climate mitigation, and sustainable forestry and agriculture.
“We noticed a growing demand for carbon sinks and carbon credits, as a more permanent alternative to traditional carbon offsets. Biochar-based carbon sinks can remain in the soil for thousands of years. We believed there was potential for farmers to sell carbon sink credits to companies looking to lower their climate footprint,” says Cecilia Hermansson.
The EIP-AGRI Operational Group is launching the carbon credit system commercially and continues to refine and develop the certification standard. This establishment of a national certification standard involves the development of a carbon credit calculation tool, initially designed for forest residue biomass but also adaptable to other types of biomass.
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