On March 28, 2025, the Soil Community App hosted a groundbreaking webinar exploring ‘Carbon Farming Certification’, shedding light on the evolving landscape of EU carbon farming frameworks. Featuring leading experts and prominent EU soil projects such as the InBestSoil and MRV4SOC projects, the session provided an in-depth look into certification processes, broader ecosystem benefits, and innovative methodologies for evaluating soil health and sustainability.

One of the key themes was emphasizing the importance of recognizing the co-benefits associated with carbon farming activities, including extended biodiversity protection, ecosystem restoration, soil health, and the prevention of land degradation. 

BIOservicES & InBestSoil projects. The role of indicators in measuring soil and ecosystem health

A highlight of the webinar was the discussion around selecting effective indicators to monitor soil ecosystem services. These indicators must be:

• Intuitive: clearly communicate ecosystem benefits without ambiguity;
• Sensitive: detect changes promptly to enable adaptive management;
• Accepted: grounded in scientific methodology, ensuring reliability and data availability.

Key indicators identified include:

• Provisioning services: crop yields, NDVI, PPI, dry matter productivity, vegetation cover, water content;
• Regulating services: soil organic carbon, GHG emissions, soil moisture, heavy metals, nitrates, pH, soil stability, drought stress index;
• Supporting services: microbial biomass, biodiversity metrics, micro-fauna richness;
• Cultural services: heritage elements, recreation indices, employment, knowledge generation.

Case studies and practical applications

Three case studies across diverse regions and land uses demonstrated how ecosystem services are assessed in practice:

• Mediterranean region (forestry and agriculture): emphasized erosion control, biodiversity, and climate regulation;
• Atlantic region (agriculture): Focused on water purification, nutrient cycling, and soil health.

Next steps and opportunities

Looking ahead, the webinar outlined several future directions:

• Refining and finalizing a set of measuring indicators, especially emphasizing soil biodiversity;
• Exploring the interlinkages between ecosystem services and potential for scaling up successful practices;
• Transitioning from indicator-based assessments to practical management strategies;
• Valuing co-benefits economically, paving the way for market premiums and enhanced incentives.

MRV4SOC Project. A successful Carbon Certification. How to be fair to farmers and support the transition to regenerative practices?

1. Engaging all farmers

• Use of an effortless encoding platform that simplifies data entry;
• Implementation of a precise reward mechanism to incentivize participation;
• Providing knowledge support and opportunities for peer learning.
• Farmers retain decision-making authority on practices with support tools for agronomic improvements.

2. Ensuring high-quality and integrity in MRV (monitoring, reporting, verification)

• Utilization of a hybrid approach combining sampling, modeling, remote sensing, and proximal sensing;
• Focus on higher-tier methodologies (Tier 3) for greater accuracy;
• Differentiation between sequestration and emissions, with attention to additionality and permanence;
• Consistent application of rules across crediting periods, with safeguards for reversals and exclusions;
• Emphasis on quantifying co-benefits, such as biodiversity, water management, and soil health.

3. Engaging buyers of certificates

• Building confidence among farmers regarding buyer intentions;
• Aligning with clear regulatory ambitions such as CSRD, CSDDD, and CRCF;
• Promoting high-integrity certificates to catalyze value chain synergies;
• Ensuring transparency, traceability, and inclusion of co-benefits alongside carbon metrics.

4. The role of MRV4SOC

• Improving MRV processes and delivering guidance in line with CRCF;
• Developing and reconciling methodologies suitable for both field-level and national-level accounting;
• Supporting projects through comparative analysis, agronomic recommendations, and simplified digital tools like MySoilCapital—co-created with farmers for intuitive use;
• Focusing on fair, transparent quantification aligned with agronomic realities and long-term resilience.

5. The farmer’s journey in MRV

• Baseline assessments using historical data;
• Ongoing annual assessments over 5 years, with payments (minimum €27.50/tonne CO2e) tied to achieved reductions;
• Maintenance and retention periods supported by remote sensing and monitoring;
• Implementation of a buffer system for maintaining soil carbon and managing reversals.

6. Principles for successful certification

• Fair and accessible quantification methods;
• Clear standards for additionality, liability, and sustainability;
• Emphasis on measuring both carbon and co-benefits, ensuring the certification supports regenerative practices that improve soil health, biodiversity, and water management.

These highlights reflect a comprehensive, farmer-friendly, high-integrity approach to carbon certification that supports regenerative agriculture while maintaining transparency, fairness, and regulatory compliance.

The ‘Carbon Farming Certification’ webinar underscores the importance of a science-based approach to certifying carbon farming activities. By integrating ecosystem co-benefits into certification frameworks, stakeholders can promote practices delivering multifaceted environmental, social, and economic benefits – driving forward a sustainable and resilient European agricultural and forestry landscape.