A growing coalition of organisations formally urges the European Commission to use three time-bound legislative reviews to convert the CRCF framework into a functioning, farmer-rewarding market.
A coalition of 52 organisations across the carbon farming sector has published an open letter to the European Commission, calling for action to ensure a functioning market for CRCF carbon farming units – one that delivers on the promise of rewarding land managers for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. The letter calls on the Commission to act within three time-bound legislative windows, namely the Article 18 CRCF review, the LULUCF and Effort Sharing Regulation revision, and the ETS Phase 5 review, in order to establish the structural demand needed to make the Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF) a functioning market for land stewards.
Brussels (16 June 2026) – The letter is addressed to Executive Vice-Presidents Teresa Ribera and Raffaele Fitto, and Commissioners Wopke Hoekstra and Christophe Hansen, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Directors-General of DG CLIMA and DG AGRI copied. Submitted by the International Soil Carbon Industry Alliance (ISCIA), it includes signatures from the European Landowners Organisation (ELO), the Business Alliance for Climate Action (BACA), European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF), and dozens of organisations working with land managers and carbon markets globally.
The Opportunity: A Framework Built for Multi-Use
The CRCF is uniquely positioned to be the shared standard that can serve the inset market, the offset market, and compliance demand simultaneously. This multi-use design is not a compromise – but a necessity – to remunerate farmers for regenerative practices implemented and measure their outcomes robustly.
The decisions taken in the coming 18 months will determine whether the CRCF becomes the foundation of European nature-based mitigation and a durable income stream for European farmers – or a certification framework that falls short of its potential.
European Farmers Are Ready – The Market Must Catch Up
At the heart of the letter is a simple argument: European farmers who have invested in changing their practices to store carbon need a market that fairly rewards them for it. The transitioning work comes at a cost – and there is a risk that farmers will stop implementing practices if they are not quickly and fairly compensated. CRCF certification guarantees the quality of that climate work, but quality alone is not enough without buyers. The letter calls on the Commission to create the demand-side infrastructure that turns farmer effort into farmer income.
European supply of CRCF-eligible carbon farming units is growing rapidly. Member data of the International Soil Carbon Industry Alliance (ISCIA) shows the pipeline is on track to exceed 10 Mt CO₂e per year by 2028, representing the climate work of approximately 20,000 farmers transitioning their practices. The letter calls on the Commission to ensure the demand-side architecture keeps pace with this momentum, ensuring farmers the revenue certainty they need to commit to long-term practice change.
"The CRCF has the opportunity to be the world's leading carbon farming framework in uniting the inset market and the offset markets with clear guidance to guarantee environmental outcomes are robustly measured. And with the responsible integration to existing regulatory frameworks, appropriate demand can be created to reward farmers fairly for their efforts and ensure that practices which store carbon are maintained and scaled, so that the EU can actually meet its ambitious climate targets."
Five Asks of the Commission
The Open Letter asks the Commission to address:
Permanence
Recognise that high-integrity nature-based CRCF carbon farming units, backed by buffer pools, reversal liability, and emerging permanence instruments, are effectively permanent within the meaning of the amended European Climate Law.
EU ETS
Establish a defined role for CRCF carbon farming units in EU ETS compliance – whether through direct retirement, as a gating condition for Article 6 international credit access, or via Market Stability Reserve reform.
LULUCF & Effort Sharing
Recognise CRCF units in Member State compliance under cross-sectoral flexibility provisions of the amended European Climate Law.
Member State levers
Encourage Member State use of CRCF units in national carbon tax flexibilities, sectoral offsetting obligations, and public procurement.
Claims guidance
Issue operational claims guidance for CRCF offtakers covering both inset and offset use cases.
The Legislative Window
The Article 18 review of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 is due by 31 July 2026. The LULUCF and Effort Sharing Regulation revision is expected in Q4 2026. The ETS Phase 5 revision proposal is expected from the Commission in July 2026, with adoption targeted for Q1 2027. These three processes form a single, time-bound window. ISCIA and the letter's signatories are calling on the Commission to use it.
"Farmers are doing their part. The Commission now has a time-bound window to do its part. The land sector represents the largest scalable carbon sink opportunity available to Europe today."
About ISCIA
The International Soil Carbon Industry Alliance (ISCIA) is a global, member-led industry organisation representing the soil organic carbon ecosystem - including project developers, methodology providers, technology companies, carbon market standards bodies, academic institutions, agriculture value chain players, and NGOs. ISCIA works to advance high-integrity, science-based frameworks for soil organic carbon markets worldwide.
Media contact
ISCIA Secretariat · [email protected]
View the full Open Letter and list of signatories