Regional voluntary carbon pilot market demonstrates the potential of carbon farming
31/07/2026
One of the most significant achievements of GECO 2.2 has been the practical testing of a regional voluntary carbon market, bringing together farmers and buyers to demonstrate how sustainable agricultural practices can generate measurable climate benefits and new economic opportunities.
The pilot was built upon the framework defined in GECO2.2 D.4.1.1 Operational Plan of the Pilot Phase, which established the governance structure, operational procedures, digital tools and certification pathway required to support carbon credit generation, verification and registration. The document also defined the interaction between farmers, buyers and other stakeholders involved in the future certification scheme.
To prepare the market testing phase, a series of technical and organisational actions were carried out and documented in GECO2.2 D.4.2.1 Pilot Phase Technical Report.
As part of the pilot activities, 159 farmers from the project areas in Italy and Croatia were selected to participate in the initiative. Together, they identified 220 experimental fields, where project experts assessed farming practices and measured the balance of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) using the tools developed within GECO 2.2. The assessment resulted in the generation of 4,272 tonnes of verified carbon credits, all recorded and managed through the project's digital platform.
The pilot also involved the demand side of the market. Starting from the stakeholder mapping carried out in previous project activities, around a dozen companies and organisations were selected as potential buyers. Together, they expressed interest in purchasing more than 300 tonnes of carbon credits, demonstrating the growing attention of businesses towards high-quality, locally generated carbon credits.
By connecting farmers who adopt carbon farming practices with organisations willing to support climate action, GECO 2.2 provides a practical example of how regional voluntary carbon markets can contribute to climate mitigation while creating new value for agriculture.
The complete deliverable is available in the Library section of the GECO 2.2 website (WP4).
The GECO2.2 Certification Scheme
One of the main outcomes of the GECO2.2 project is the development of the GECO2.2 Certification Scheme for Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming, an innovative framework designed to certify carbon removals and greenhouse gas emission reductions generated through sustainable agricultural and land-management practices. The scheme has been developed in accordance with the principles of the European Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Framework (CRCF) and aims to support the establishment of transparent, credible and science-based regional carbon markets.
The Certification Scheme provides a complete governance and operational framework covering the calculation, monitoring, verification, certification, registration and trading of carbon credits generated by farmers.
A key feature of the scheme is its multi-stakeholder governance structure, which foresees the involvement of farmers, buyers, public authorities, technical experts and certification bodies. The model includes independent supervisory and technical bodies, transparent decision-making procedures, conflict-of-interest management mechanisms and publicly accessible registries to ensure accountability and trust among all participants.
The development of the Certification Scheme benefited significantly from the contribution of the project's associated partners, whose involvement helped align the framework with policy, regulatory and market needs. In particular, the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture played a strategic role in supporting the assessment of the scheme's consistency with emerging European carbon farming policies and in promoting the integration of carbon farming approaches within national agricultural and rural development strategies.
