PADUA, ITALY -- From 17–19 March 2026, Padua will host the 3rd European Carbon Farming Summit (ECFS26), where policymakers, business leaders, scientists, and farmers convene to move carbon farming from pilots to implementation under the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation.

After successful editions in Valencia (2024) and Dublin (2025), the Summit continues to grow in scale and relevance. Participation has increased steadily across editions – from over 600 participants in Valencia to more than 1,000 stakeholders engaged in Dublin (in person and online) – reflecting rising political and market interest in land-based climate solutions. The 2026 edition is expected to bring together more than 700 participants in person, alongside a broad online audience.

This year’s Summit marks a decisive moment for Europe’s land sector, as attention shifts from pilot initiatives and methodology testing toward the practical implementation of the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation.

High-level speakers include senior representatives from the European Commission, including Kurt Vandenberghe (https://commission.europa.eu/persons/kurt-vandenberghe_en), Director-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit for Land Economy and Carbon Removals (DG CLIMA), Elisabeth Werner, Director-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), Kirsten Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer, Climate KIC, and Alessandra Zampieri, Director of Sustainable Resources at the European Commission Joint Research Centre, alongside leaders from business, finance, research, and farming organisations. Companies such as Mars and BASF will also join policymakers and practitioners to explore how carbon farming can move from concept to operational reality.

“Europe is entering a decisive phase in the implementation of the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation. The focus is now on ensuring that carbon farming delivers measurable climate impact while creating real value for farmers and land managers. The European Carbon Farming Summit provides a crucial space to align policy, science and practice as we move from pilot initiatives to operational systems.”

— Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit for Land Economy and Carbon Removals (DG CLIMA).

Emphasising the most pressing questions and opportunities for carbon farming in Europe, the Summit will focus on five key themes:

● From practice to impact

● Thinking beyond carbon

● Standards, policy, and ownership rights

● Financing carbon farming at scale

● Building robust and flexible MRV

Discussions will address how to increase uptake across diverse land uses, simplify participation for small and medium-sized farms, ensure fair value and shared risk, and align carbon farming with broader biodiversity, soil health, and rural resilience goals.

“Carbon farming will only scale if it is credible, economically viable, and grounded in the realities and needs of farmers and land managers. The Padua Summit marks an important step in turning three years of dialogue and experimentation into practical pathways for implementation. By connecting policy, finance, science and practice, we can help ensure that Europe’s land-based transition delivers measurable impact and long-term resilience.”

— Kirsten Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer, Climate KIC

The Summit builds on three years of dialogue under the Horizon Europe-funded CREDIBLE project (https://www.project-credible.eu), which has brought together more than 250 experts and facilitated over 20 public consultations to strengthen trust, transparency, and methodological alignment in soil carbon farming across the EU. As the current project phase concludes in May 2026, the community and network established through CREDIBLE continue to expand and evolve.

Join in person or online

Participation in the 3rd European Carbon Farming Summit is possible both in person and online. Key sessions will be streamed via the Project CREDIBLE YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectCredible), ensuring broad access for stakeholders across Europe.

Registration and further information can be found at:

https://www.carbonfarmingsummit.eu/european-carbon-farming-summit-2026

ABOUT THE EUROPEAN CARBON FARMING SUMMIT

The 3rd European Carbon Farming Summit will take place at the Padova Congress Centre from 17–19 March 2026. The summit is co-organised by SAE Innova (https://www.sae-innova.com/en) and Climate KIC (https://www.climate-kic.org) within the CREDIBLE consortium (https://www.project-credible.eu) – and co-hosted by EIT Food https://www.eitfood.eu (as LILAS4SOILS coordinator https://www.lilas4soils.eu) and Confagricoltura Veneto (https://confagricolturaveneto.it), with support from Veneto Agricoltura (https://www.venetoagricoltura.org/home).

ABOUT CREDIBLE

CREDIBLE (Building momentum and trust to achieve credible soil carbon farming in the EU) is a Horizon Europe project funded under Grant Agreement #101112951 (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101112951). The project aims to build momentum and trust for soil carbon farming in the EU by fostering transparency, environmental integrity, methodological standardisation, and multi-actor dialogue.

Project duration: 1 June 2023 – 31 May 2026

www.project-credible.eu

ABOUT CLIMATE KIC

Climate KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, helping to create climate-resilient communities and fight the climate breakdown by mobilising systems change in countries, regions, cities, and businesses. Together with partners, across the globe, Climate KIC orchestrates solutions and facilitates learning, helping to bridge an ever-widening gap between climate commitments and current reality. For more information, visit www.climate-kic.org

MEDIA CONTACT

Climate KIC

seth.armstrong-twigg@climate-kic.org

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