What are the CAP and the Low Carbon Label?
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a regulation and a financial support programme established by the European Union. The CAP offers different forms of aid to farmers, such as direct payments, investment subsidies, and agri-environmental measures.
History of the CAP: from its beginnings to the present day
The Low Carbon Label for Arable Crops
The Low Carbon Label for Arable Crops (LBC GC) is a methodological framework defined by a consortium of French technical institutes. It is intended for farms with arable crop activities that wish to engage in carbon impact reduction projects.
He encourages farmers to assess their carbon footprint using a carbon audit. This audit takes into account all operations carried out on the farm over the last three harvest years.
The farmer can then implement an action plan based on the agroecological levers of the LBC GC that they wish to put in place over the next five years. This will enable them to generate carbon credits which will then be sold on the voluntary carbon market. This is one of the methods for financing their ecological transition.
Their differences and similarities
The CAP and the LBC GC have in common promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices.
The CAP encourages farmers to transition to more sustainable agriculture, notably through the implementation of the eco-scheme system.
The Low Carbon Label specifically encourages agricultural holdings to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and increase the carbon sink function of their soils.
Can PAC and Carbon Label be combined?
This is a frequent question from farmers.
The answer is reassuring: committing to a low-carbon project does not prevent you from benefiting from CAP aid. There are even synergies between the two initiatives.
One of the main new features of the recent CAP reform is the introduction of eco-schemes.
These are CAP measures that financially reward farmers for their sustainable practices and their contribution to environmental preservation. There are three categories of eco-schemes with two different payment levels depending on the level of involvement.
History of the CAP: from its beginnings to the present day
A parallel can therefore be drawn between the implementation of low-carbon practices and obtaining Level 2 of the environmental certification for farms. A farmer can therefore achieve the first level of payment for the eco-scheme through certification.
To be more specific:
If a farmer activates lever 16 of the LBC GC, increased use of organic fertilising materials, this helps to meet GAEC 6, maintenance of soil organic matter.
Another example, if he activates lever 18 linked to cover crops, the latter addresses the challenge of GAEC 4, minimum soil cover.
Therefore, certain practices under the Carbon Footprint Label can perfectly meet the requirements of the CAP eco-scheme.
Furthermore, Agri-environmental and Climate Measures (AECMs) are CAP schemes that offer financial incentives to farmers for the implementation of sustainable practices.
These measures can also be used for the financing of a low-carbon project that requires external funding, whether public or private.
This allows farmers to combine CAP subsidies with external funding from the sale of carbon credits to carry out their low-carbon projects.
Sources
The Common Agricultural Policy in brief
History of the CAP
The CAP reforms
Common Agricultural Policy: how does it work?
The Common Agricultural Policy: 2023-2027
The conditionality of CAP aid
