Towards climate-neutral agriculture: System insights from ClieNFarms – Climate KIC

Report on Aligning European Agricultural Transition with Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: The Role of Carbon Farming in Achieving Climate and Land-Use Goals

Europe’s agricultural sector is at a critical juncture in its transition towards sustainability, directly impacting the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The adoption of the EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework marks a significant policy development aimed at advancing SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). However, the successful implementation of climate-neutral farming faces systemic challenges, including misaligned incentives, metrics, and advisory systems. This report synthesizes findings from the four-year, EU-funded ClieNFarms project, which analyzed these systemic interactions across twenty demonstration environments. The project’s outcomes provide critical insights for aligning agricultural practices with the SDGs, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by ensuring farm resilience, SDG 13 through carbon sequestration, and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by fostering collaboration across the value chain.

Key Findings from the ClieNFarms Project

1. Systemic Misalignment Hinders Climate Action

   The project demonstrated that climate measures fail to scale when evidence, financial incentives, and advisory systems are not aligned. This lack of coherence creates conflicting signals for farmers, impeding the widespread adoption of practices necessary for achieving SDG 13. Effective climate action requires a unified approach where policy, markets, and guidance reinforce one another, a core principle of SDG 17.

2. Co-creation as a Catalyst for Change

   Collaborative structures, such as the project’s “Creative Arenas,” proved essential for building trust and facilitating the adoption of new practices. By bringing together farmers, advisors, researchers, and processors, these platforms enabled shared learning and problem-solving. This finding underscores the critical importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships (SDG 17) in driving innovation and ensuring that solutions are practical and relevant to farmers, thereby supporting a just transition under SDG 2.

3. Conflicting Indicators Obscure Progress Towards SDGs

   A fundamental challenge identified is the lack of a unified system for measuring progress. Indicators used for supply-chain reporting (per unit of product), policy planning (per hectare), and farm management often point in different directions. This divergence makes it difficult to define and track progress towards integrated goals, such as balancing food production (SDG 2) with climate mitigation (SDG 13) and biodiversity protection (SDG 15).

4. Uncertainty in Soil Carbon Modelling Affects Land Management Goals

   While soil carbon modelling is a promising tool for quantifying contributions to SDG 13, its reliability is contingent on data quality, calibration, and accessibility. To build confidence and support policies like the CRCF, there is a need for improved data governance and user-friendly tools. Accurate modelling is essential for valuing soil health not only for carbon sequestration but also for its role in enhancing ecosystem resilience, a key target of SDG 15.

5. Value-Chain Allocation Barriers Limit Private Sector Engagement

   A significant obstacle to private investment in climate-friendly agriculture is the difficulty of attributing the benefits of on-farm practices across complex value chains. This lack of a trusted allocation framework constrains corporate engagement and the development of market-based incentives that align with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Resolving this issue is crucial for unlocking private finance to support the agricultural transition.

6. Farmer Needs for a Predictable and Supportive Transition

   Farmers consistently requested practical clarity, tested examples, and mechanisms for shared risk management. Policy predictability is paramount for long-term investment in sustainable practices. Meeting these needs is fundamental to ensuring that the transition is farmer-centred and economically viable, which is essential for maintaining robust food systems (SDG 2) and promoting decent work (SDG 8).

Recommendations for a Systemic, SDG-Aligned Agricultural Framework

The findings from ClieNFarms provide a clear evidence base for future policy and action. To ensure Europe’s agricultural transition effectively contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, the following steps are recommended:

• Develop Coherent and Stable Frameworks: Align policy signals, financial incentives, and advisory services to provide a clear and predictable environment for farmers. This systemic coherence is foundational for achieving progress on SDG 2, SDG 13, and SDG 15.
• Strengthen Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Institutionalize co-creation and collaborative platforms to ensure that solutions are developed with and for farmers, leveraging the power of partnerships (SDG 17) to accelerate innovation.
• Establish Integrated Performance Metrics: Create assessment frameworks that value both short-term mitigation outcomes and long-term contributions to system resilience, soil health, and biodiversity, providing a holistic measure of success against multiple SDGs.
• Enhance Data and Modelling Infrastructure: Invest in accessible, high-quality data and user-friendly modelling tools to build trust and provide a reliable basis for carbon farming certification and payments under SDG 13 and SDG 15.
• Create Fair Value-Chain Mechanisms: Design clear frameworks for allocating and rewarding climate benefits across supply chains to unlock private investment and support responsible production patterns (SDG 12).

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Addressed in the Article

Explanation of Identified SDGs

The article on Europe’s agricultural transition and the ClieNFarms project touches upon several Sustainable Development Goals. The core focus on climate-neutral farming, carbon removals, and building resilience directly relates to climate action and sustainable land use. Furthermore, the discussion on transforming food systems, fostering innovation in agriculture, and the critical role of multi-stakeholder collaboration connects to goals concerning hunger, innovation, and partnerships.

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger: The article’s emphasis on creating “resilient, regenerative food systems” and “sustainable agriculture” aligns with the goal of ending hunger and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: The focus on developing new systems, tools like “soil carbon modelling,” and creating stable frameworks for “carbon farming methodologies” relates to fostering innovation and building resilient infrastructure within the agricultural sector.
• SDG 13: Climate Action: This is the most prominent SDG, as the entire article revolves around “agricultural climate action,” “climate-neutral farming,” “carbon removals,” and strengthening the agricultural system’s “capacity to withstand climate impacts.” The EU’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework is a direct policy measure for climate action.
• SDG 15: Life on Land: The article extensively discusses the importance of “soil carbon,” “soil function,” “water retention,” and “biodiversity.” These elements are central to protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The article highlights that progress is only possible when all actors work together. The ClieNFarms project itself, a consortium of 33 partners, and its use of “co-creation structures” and “Creative Arenas” to bring together farmers, advisors, researchers, and supply-chain actors, exemplifies the importance of partnerships.

Specific Targets Identified

Explanation of Relevant Targets

Within the identified SDGs, the article’s content points to several specific targets. These targets are reflected in the push for resilient agricultural practices, the integration of climate policy, the restoration of soil health, and the promotion of multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve these goals.

• Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems… and that progressively improve land and soil quality. The article’s focus on “resilient, regenerative food systems” and measures that improve “soil structure” directly supports this target.
• Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards. The text explicitly mentions the need for assessments that value “longer-term resilience” and enhance the “system’s capacity to withstand climate impacts.”
• Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. The discussion of the EU’s CRCF framework and the need for “stable policy signals” for farmers and companies is a clear example of this target in action.
• Target 15.3: By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil… and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world. The focus on “soil carbon sequestration,” improving “soil function,” and “water retention” are key activities related to restoring land and soil health.
• Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships. The article’s finding that “climate measures only scale when the surrounding system pulls in the same direction” and its praise for co-creation models like the “Creative Arenas” directly align with this target.

Indicators Mentioned or Implied

Explanation of Identified Indicators

The article explicitly discusses the challenge of using different indicators to measure progress in agricultural climate action, highlighting how the choice of indicator can lead to different conclusions. It mentions several types of indicators and implies others that would be necessary to track the outcomes of the discussed measures.

• Indicators per unit of product: Mentioned as being used for “supply-chain reporting” but can risk encouraging intensification.
• Indicators per hectare: Mentioned as useful for “regional and policy planning” but may favour extensification.
• Farm-level indicators: Mentioned as reflecting how farmers manage systems but are difficult to translate into value-chain metrics.
• Soil carbon sequestration levels: Implied as a key metric, given the focus on “soil carbon modelling” and its role in mitigation and soil health.
• Greenhouse gas emissions: Implied as a necessary indicator to measure progress towards “climate-neutral farming” and “emission reductions.”
• Biodiversity levels: The article notes that climate measures affect “biodiversity in different ways,” implying it is an important indicator to track.
• System resilience to climate impacts: The article suggests that assessments are needed to value “longer-term resilience,” implying the need for indicators to measure this capacity.

Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: climate-kic.org