Measures deployed by farmers can both contribute to the farming sector’s legally binding emissions reduction targets and generate carbon credits to be sold to other industries not meeting their carbon goals, a leading European Commission official has suggested.

Christian Holzleitner of the Commission’s climate wing stated that it will be “perfectly possible” for farmers to sell carbon credits generated by cutting emissions or boosting sequestration, while the wider farming sector uses these same carbon improvements to meet its climate targets.

“This is how it works everywhere. If you look at emissions trading in industry, in energy or take a steel factory, this company will show the emissions reductions on its balance sheet,” Holzleitner said.

“It shows in our registry in the national inventory and this is the same approach for agriculture.”