The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced a new coalition of partners aiming to decarbonise Europe’s food system, the European Carbon+ Farming Coalition.

The Coalition was launched by the WEF’s CEO Action Group for the European Green Deal and is part of the emerging food and nature platform, 100 Million Farmers, 1 Billion Consumers: Transitioning Towards Net-Zero, Nature-Positive Food Systems.

The Carbon+ Farming Journey project will take a farmer-centric approach to focus on increasing the uptake of regenerative and climate-smart agriculture practices, identifying the roadblocks to adoption, designing solutions with economic, practical and ecological benefits to farmers.

Through the partnership, organisations and stakeholders representing every step of the food value chain can come together to decarbonise the European food system, whilst also maintaining other benefits such as soil health and farmer resilience.

Agriculture is responsible for 10 per cent of Europe’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and without transforming the sector, Europe will not be able to remain within the Paris Agreement target. Furthermore, the world’s soils are the second largest carbon sink, second only to oceans. There is strong scientific evidence that on-farm technology coupled with widespread adoption of regenerative and climate-smart agriculture practices – such as reduced till or no-till practices, cover cropping and nutrient and manure management – can reduce GHG emissions and even sequester carbon, while improving agriculture’s significant impact on nature.

Dr Andy Zynga, CEO of EIT Food, said: “Agriculture is our greatest chance for delivering on our commitments under the Paris Agreement, and inclusive innovation will be the key enabler for a just transition to net-zero, nature-positive food systems. By pooling resources, avoiding duplication of efforts, sharing and establishing best practices in such collaborative partnerships, we can achieve greater impact more effectively. EIT Food believes and invests in people-centric and systemic innovations, where no one is left behind. We are thus excited to join this coalition of pioneering organisations in a shared vision for a better future.”

Current members of the coalition include BASF, Bayer, the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food, Swiss Re, University of Glasgow and Zurich Insurance Group

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