The Eurecat technology centre has advanced an innovative voluntary carbon offset scheme based on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the aim of providing an economic incentive for sustainable agriculture that leads to improvements in biodiversity and soil quality.
The initiative is part of the Bioresilmed project, which promotes the bioeconomy and climate resilience in Mediterranean coastal and inland landscapes, with a particular focus on reducing methane emissions from rice fields in the Ebro Delta, one of the Mediterranean areas with the highest potential for climate change mitigation.
Within the project, the Fundació Empresa i Clima (FEC) acts as a link with entities and companies interested in offsetting their emissions through locally generated carbon credits.
In the context of climate emergency, Bioresilmed seeks to promote voluntary mechanisms that channel resources towards sustainable and resilient agricultural practices with verifiable environmental benefits. To this end, the project works on reducing methane emissions in rice fields, increasing soil organic matter, carbon sequestration in woody crops, and the adoption of regenerative techniques on Mediterranean pilot farms.
“With innovative initiatives such as this project, we aim to ensure that voluntary carbon markets become a tangible commitment to regenerative agriculture and the recovery of biodiversity in the Mediterranean,” explains Carles Ibáñez, Director of the Climate Resilience Centre.
In this regard, Eurecat “applies rigorous monitoring, reporting and verification standards to quantify emission reductions and ensure high-quality voluntary credits, the revenues from which are reinvested in participating farmers to strengthen their transition towards more sustainable and resilient agriculture,” he adds.
“This scheme offers companies and organizations the opportunity to contribute to climate resilience by supporting nearby, measurable projects with direct impact,” highlights Elvira Carles, Director of the Fundació Empresa i Clima.
The scheme has already demonstrated its effectiveness during trials carried out in the project’s implementation phase. Among the participating entities are Comissions Obreres de Catalunya, which offset part of its carbon footprint by supporting emission reduction practices at the organic rice farm Riet Vell; FC Barcelona, which acquired credits linked to emission reductions in the rice fields of the La Llanada farm; and companies such as Mistral Bonsai and Eurofragance, which also supported practices implemented on the same farm.
“The implemented scheme model provides environmental and social integrity, economic incentives for farmers, transparency in the marketing of credits, and a distinctive technological approach thanks to Eurecat’s involvement, which facilitates its replication in other Mediterranean territories,” emphasizes Elvira Carles.
The Bioresilmed consortium is led by the Eurecat technology centre and includes the participation of the Fundació Empresa i Clima, the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, Fundació Aland, SEO/BirdLife and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
The project is supported by the Fundación Biodiversidad of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
