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Agrifood systems in the voluntary carbon market: Status and prospects

Year of publication 2025

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 212 p.

Author Wollenberg, E.; Dittmer, K.M.; Shelton, S.; Tennigkeit, T.; Costa Jr., C.; Bernoux, M.; Agostini, A.;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (series)

ISBN 978-92-5-139863-0

Series title Directions in Investment

Series number No. 14

To cite or share https://doi.org/10.4060/cd5192en

Synopsis (short abstract) This report constitutes the first global assessment of the agrifood sector in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), which is where carbon credits are issued, bought and sold in the private sector. The purpose is to better understand the status of the agrifood sector in the VCM, identify impacts and opportunities for scaling up, as well as trends and innovations for agrifood that can inform emerging national and international carbon market policy and programs. The agrifood sector has great global potential to remove carbon from the atmosphere, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), and generate Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) co-benefits. However, the up-front investment needed and the lack of incentives to change and maintain farming practices hold back adoption and upscaling. The VCM provides a source of additional private funding by unlocking finance flows from companies that purchase agrifood carbon credits as offsets to their corporate emissions or for positive contribution claims.

The following complementary information is available:

Updated 07/07/2025, see  corrigendum.

Last updated 12/11/2025

Cite this content as:

Wollenberg, E., Dittmer, K. M., Shelton, S., Tennigkeit, T., Costa Jr., C., Bernoux, M. & Agostini, A. 2025. Agrifood systems in the voluntary carbon market: status and prospects. Directions in Investment, No. 14 Rome, FAO.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cd5192en

Language English

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