Derivation and Evaluation of a Business Model to Promote Carbon Farming That Generates Valid Carbon Removal

Cecilia Roxanne Geier (), Enno Bahrs and Christian Sponagel
Additional contact information
Cecilia Roxanne Geier: Department of Farm Management (410b), Institute of Farm Management, University of Hohenheim, Schwerzstraße 44, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Enno Bahrs: Department of Farm Management (410b), Institute of Farm Management, University of Hohenheim, Schwerzstraße 44, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Christian Sponagel: Department of Farm Management (410b), Institute of Farm Management, University of Hohenheim, Schwerzstraße 44, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-30

Abstract: This contribution evaluates and examines the scope of 26 global carbon farming projects with a view to analyzing existing concepts for developing a business model for promoting carbon farming in order to generate valid carbon removal. It thus addresses an important aspect of the objectives of the European Green Deal. This study is based on a literature search analyzing four certification standards, an expert-based online survey, and an expert-based online workshop to evaluate different practice approaches identified by previous studies and additional information sources. The results highlight the theoretical potential of a result-based business model using agroforestry to fulfil the essential requirements to promote carbon farming for generating carbon removal. Although the study has limitations regarding the number of projects examined and experts consulted, there is a high probability that the underlying requirements could not be sufficiently fulfilled when translating them into practice. The identified concepts failed as a consequence of inadequate permanence assurance mechanisms, impractical measurement accuracy, poor precision in baseline scenarios, and lack of additionality. To remedy this, we recommend a shift away from a pure focus on promoting carbon farming to achieve carbon removal towards promoting the co-benefits of carbon farming. Further research should evaluate the extent to which stakeholders are interested in giving their financial backing to these co-benefits.

Keywords: certificates; agroforestry; humus; result-based payments; land use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/15809/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/15809/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:15809-:d:1277442

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().