LUCSUS seminar: Carbon farming as a climate measure – insights from the emerging voluntary market for soil carbon credits

Elina Andersson. Associate Professor LUCSUS
Emma Johansson. Associate Professor LUCSUS

Carbon farming—using soils to store carbon—is increasingly promoted in science and policy as a way to meet net-zero targets while improving soil health. Carbon credit programmes based on farming are rapidly expanding in the voluntary market, where companies and individuals buy credits to offset emissions. Though still small in share, agriculture-based credits are among the fastest-growing categories. Revaluing soils for carbon creates new socio-environmental dynamics with implications for both climate action and agriculture. In this seminar, we will present our global inventory of carbon farming programs and actors. Drawing on a recent interview study, we also share preliminary findings on farmers’ perspectives on carbon farming, including incentives and barriers to engagement, as well as views on socially just soil carbon governance in the Swedish context.