The aim is to encourage practices to store coal in the soil in a sustainable way
The EU goal for the coming years is as follows: to store more carbon in agricultural and forest soils to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, favouring with ad hoc financing the agronomic practices and the suitable cultivations for this purpose. The Agriculture Ministers approved the conclusions on carbon sequestration in agricultural soils to encourage agricultural practices that help to capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it in soils or biomass in a sustainable way. Such practices include the planting of hedges or trees, the cultivation of legumes, the use of catch and cover crops, conservation agriculture and the maintenance of peat bogs, forestry, afforestation or reforestation. A legislative proposal to enhance these practices on the basis of scientifically proven measurement requirements will follow.
The Council recognised the key role of agriculture and forestry in combating climate change and recognised the importance of providing farmers and foresters with incentive financial support to encourage them to adopt climate-friendly practices. There is also a green light for the establishment of an expert group to assess existing carbon certification systems and share examples of best practice from across the EU. The group may extend certification to greenhouse gas emission reductions. For the Member States, the primary objective of EU agriculture is food security, which requires regional specificities to be taken into account and avoids unnecessary administrative burdens in establishing the certification framework.