Carbon Farming Funding in the EU: Open Grants, Carbon Markets, and the 2026 Certification Framework

"Carbon farming is not just a trend, but a key pathway to climate positive agriculture, one that benefits both the planet and farm profitability."

AgriVentures, Carbon Farming focus area

Carbon farming, the set of practices that pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it in soil or biomass, is moving from niche pilot projects to a regulated EU market. AgriVentures is tracking the funding and policy moves opening up around it, and pointing farmers, cooperatives, and climate tech startups toward where the money and the rules currently stand.

Where the Funding Is

Support for carbon farming currently comes from three directions.

At EU level, the Common Agricultural Policy (2023 to 2027) offers eco schemes rewarding practices like cover cropping, reduced tillage, and agroforestry. Horizon Europe runs funding calls under themes such as soil health, carbon sequestration in farming systems, and nature based solutions. The LIFE Programme backs projects on carbon storage, regenerative agriculture, and soil biodiversity. The Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI), launching in 2026, is the EU's roadmap for a voluntary certification framework for carbon removals.

Closer to home, national and regional programmes, including pilot soil carbon measurement schemes and NGO led or private MRV (monitoring, reporting, verification) platforms, are especially active in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe.

Beyond public money, private and hybrid mechanisms are opening up too: voluntary carbon markets such as Nori and Verra for selling verified carbon credits, AgriTech accelerators offering seed funding for carbon smart startups, and corporate sustainability programmes from companies like Nestlé and Unilever that support regenerative farming through contract partnerships.

The Regulation Behind the Money

Backing all of this is the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF), Regulation (EU) 2024/3012, officially published on 6 December 2024, which creates the first EU wide voluntary framework for certifying carbon removals from farming and forestry, recognising carbon storage in products, and ensuring consistent quality standards across member states. For farmers and project developers, that means a recognised way to prove sequestration results. For investors and buyers, it means more confidence that the credits they purchase deliver real climate benefit. For the market overall, it means a lower risk of greenwashing thanks to stricter verification.

How AgriVentures Helps

AgriVentures works with farmers and cooperatives adopting regenerative practices, such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, agroforestry, and biochar application, and with startups and innovators aligning their business models with EU climate goals and emerging carbon markets. That support runs from navigating EU and national funding instruments like Horizon Europe, the LIFE Programme, and rural development funds, to testing and implementing MRV tools, to helping teams participate in voluntary carbon markets to monetise climate positive practices.

Find Your Entry Point Without the Guesswork

With funding spread across EU, national, and private tracks, knowing where to start is often the hardest part. By creating a free profile at agriventures.co and choosing Carbon Farming as an area of interest, farmers and innovators let AgriVentures surface the calls that fit their operation from its live database of 500+ agrifood funding programmes, delivered straight to their inbox as new opportunities open, so they can spend their time on the farm instead of searching for grants.

Checkout our guides for funding opportunities

Agriventures Connect 3.0 is coming on 20th of April 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria

The role of Agriventures in supporting agrifood innovation

As the agritech startup ecosystem grows across Europe, initiatives such as Agriventures are helping connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and policymakers working in agriculture and food innovation.

Agriventures focuses on supporting agrifood startups, biotechnology innovation, and access to European funding for agriculture, while also helping entrepreneurs navigate the complex landscape of startup financing, venture capital, and research commercialization.

By strengthening connections between startups, research institutions, investors, and farmers, Agriventures contributes to building a stronger agricultural innovation ecosystem that can accelerate the transition toward sustainable agriculture and resilient food systems.

Through knowledge sharing, events, and ecosystem building, Agriventures helps ensure that promising agritech innovations can scale and reach farmers, food producers, and global markets.