The Mediterranean region is warming 20% faster than the global average. Impacts will place additional pressure on already stressed ecosystems as well as on vulnerable economies and societies. The agricultural sector is particularly affected by this transformation, both because it bears the impact of climate change and because it is tasked with contributing to its mitigation.
Carbon farming is the new frontier of sustainable agricultural systems to mitigate climate change through the management of the entire carbon supply chain at the farm level, including pools, flows, and GHG fluxes. This involves the management of both land and livestock, all pools of carbon in soils, materials and vegetation, plus fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH4), as well as nitrous oxide (N2O).
Despite progress in this field, a significant gap remains between scientific knowledge and the practical implementation of techniques that are to be adopted by farmers and supported by policymakers and practitioners.
The aim of this session is to present solutions in this field, and highlight application-, renovation- and transition-oriented insights for effective carbon farming implementation in Mediterranean climates.
We welcome contributions on:
- Carbon farming applications, including specific examples from livestock to field management sectors as well as more comprehensive approaches across the agro-livestock supply chain.
- Ways of monitoring (directly and indirectly) carbon farming applications, including but not limited to modelling, proximal and remote sensing technologies, soil mapping, GHG flux measurements, with particular emphasis on cost-effective techniques in both short and long-term.
- Verification on the long-term sustainability of carbon farming initiatives at both field and territorial level, including economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects.
This will contribute to a lively discussion on how carbon farming can be achieved in the field and scale-up at the regional or continental area in order to support climate change adaptation and mitigation.