REPORT ON EXTERNALITIES TO BE INCLUDED IN CARBON CREDITS

This report presents a comprehensive assessment of carbon farming practices in Mediterranean contexts, combining an extensive review of scientific literature with primary data collected from farms actively implementing these practices. The evaluation integrates economic, environmental, and social dimensions, supported by the “1.6 Database on Carbon Farming,” which provides a systematic scoring of literature and case studies. Primary farm-level data offer practical insights into the real-world performance, feasibility, and adoption drivers of carbon farming measures. Findings confirm that carbon farming delivers substantial economic benefits, including improved yield stability, reduced input costs, and access to higher-value markets. Social benefits are evident in strengthened rural livelihoods, improved knowledge exchange, and increased community resilience to economic and climatic challenges. Environmental benefits, the most extensively documented, include higher soil organic carbon stocks, improved soil structure and fertility, strengthened biodiversity in the agrosystems, increased water retention, and enhanced climate resilience. The report also identifies notable gaps in current knowledge, particularly in the consistent measurement of economic and social co-benefits, reflecting a lack of standardized indicators and long-term monitoring. The report emphasizes the high potential of carbon farming as a multi-benefit strategy in the Mediterranean, its relevance for EU Green Deal objectives and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and the need for targeted research, supportive policies, and integration of co-benefits into carbon credit frameworks to enhance the value, credibility, and market adoption of these practices.