(postponed) EIP-AGRI workshop ‘Towards carbon neutral agriculture’

In view of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the EIP-AGRI Service Point has made the decision to postpone this workshop again. The workshop will no longer take place on 9-10 September 2020. Instead, it will be rescheduled in Spring 2021.

This event is by invitation only, participants applied through an open call for expression of interest.

In Spring 2021, the European Commission and the EIP-AGRI Service Point, in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, are organising the workshop ‘Towards carbon neutral agriculture’ in Estonia.

This interactive event is dedicated to networking and sharing existing experiences among projects addressing innovative solutions, farm systems and practices contributing to the optimisation of carbon balance in the European farming systems. The topic of the workshop is highly relevant to the main political priorities of the Commission and in particular the European Green Deal initiative aiming at climate neutrality by 2050.

Participants will include farmers and farmers' organisations, foresters, researchers, EIP-AGRI Operational Groups, SMEs, advisers, universities, research and technology organisations, rural networks, and anyone who may be involved in relevant projects or has experience with designing and/or implementing innovative solutions, farming systems or practices contributing to the reduction of carbon footprint of the agricultural sector across Europe.

Scope and objectives

Agriculture and climate change are closely interlinked. On the one hand, agriculture is one of the main sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), two greenhouse gases, but at the same time it holds a great potential to sequester and store carbon in plants, trees and soils. A more carbon neutral agriculture is possible, if proper farm management practices are adopted to optimise the carbon balance in farming systems. These can include for instance practices aiming at reducing livestock CH4 emission, practices that result in a reduced use of farm inputs (e.g. fuels, pesticides, fertilisers) or practices that help keep carbon stored in soils. 

The focus of this workshop will be on the transition to carbon neutrality in agriculture, through: 

• Soil, crop and livestock management practices that keep and increase carbon in soils.
• Farm management practices, such as mixed farming, agro-forestry, agro-ecology and organic farming that promote the diversification of farming systems and that bring other environmental benefits, such as increased biodiversity, both in the short and long term.
• Livestock production that minimises carbon or methane emissions (e.g. extensive systems, manure management). 
• Resource efficiency in agriculture, in particular in relation to the use of fertilisers, plant protection products, energy and other farm inputs (e.g. fuel consumption).
• Methods and tools to assess carbon emissions and sequestering at farm level. 

Furthermore, conclusions from the workshop aim at promoting the adoption of these practices on the ground, which might be also favoured by the Green Deal and future CAP Strategic Plans and by Horizon Europe, due to the potential of these practices to contribute to achieving the CAP’s cross-cutting objectives and improve the resilience and environmental, social and economic performance of the farming system. 

Overall aims of the workshop

The overall aim of the workshop is to promote networking among EIP-AGRI Operational Groups and other innovative projects dealing with practices towards a more carbon neutral agriculture. This means to learn more about each other, find common issues, share good practices and innovations and explore possibilities for future collaboration and knowledge exchange. The event also aims at promoting the adoption of carbon neutral farming practices that also bring other environmental benefits, such as increased biodiversity, both in the short and long term. Finally, the workshop will provide a space for stakeholders to propose and discuss future research needs in this area.   

Specific objectives of the workshop

The specific objectives of the workshop are:

• identifying common challenges, barriers, drivers and incentives
• exploring potential solutions to shared challenges 
• exchanging good practices and analysing their success factors
• connecting participating projects to promote further co-operation
• understanding the elements required to boost the implementation of practices and solutions and improve the innovation support environment

Event documents

• Draft programme