Investing in healthy soils – Curse and blessing of private sector financing and carbon offsetting
WWF Germany
Time: Wednesday, 26. January 2022, 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. (CET), subsequent deep dive 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Languages: English, German
Summary:
Healthy soils are the assets of our farmers. Investments in healthy soils are consequently investments in the future. The (financial) market “C-sink soil” is booming. However, there is often a lack of specifically tailored financing options for a shift to sustainable agricultural practices that also preserve our soils and restore and improve their fertility.
And this despite the fact that this can support climate change mitigation and adaptation and forms the basis of healthy food.
We want to discuss what is possible, what approaches and initiatives are already in place, and provide real answers as to what needs to be done by the relevant stakeholders (politics, trade, agriculture, financial sector) to establish and implement new funding opportunities.
One much debated approach is partial financing from carbon permits to capitalise on the added value of soils as carbon sinks. Therefore, we will also take a critical look at the subject of Net-Zero and CO2 offsetting and present alternatives.
We believe that funding climate-friendly measures entirely by means of private-sector financing instruments can only be a temporary solution. Such private-sector instruments are always made available on a voluntary basis and, in most cases, only a comparatively small group of holdings that follow a proactive approach makes use of them. As described in the Farm to Fork Strategy, incentives must be offered both by the CAP and private initiatives to achieve the European climate goals. In order to reach as many farms as possible, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) also holds potential for making the subsidies granted contingent on the delivery of climate-friendly environmental and system services.
The aim of this panel is to increase awareness among the political actors involved for the topic in general and the potential, but also the challenges associated with it, to put them in contact with important stakeholders, and to provide them with adequate information so that they will take an interest in further advancing the subject by initiating possible research or on-site implementation projects.
