This article assesses current and proposed European Union (EU) climate and environmental law, and the legal instruments associated with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), to see whether soil carbon sequestration is sufficiently promoted as a promising example of ‘climate-smart agriculture’. The assessment shows that current and proposed policies and instruments are inadequate to stimulate large-scale adoption of soil carbon projects across Europe. Given the identified structural flaws, it is likely that this is true for all climate-smart agricultural practices. An alternative approach needs to be developed. Under EU climate policy, agriculture should be included in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) by allowing regulated industries to buy offsets from the agricultural sector, following the examples set by Australia and others. The second element of a new approach is aimed at the CAP, which needs to be far more focused on the specific requirements of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Yet, such stronger focus does not take away the need to explore new income streams for farmers from offsets under the ETS, as the CAP will never have sufficient funds for the deep and full transition of Europe’s agriculture sector that is needed.

中文翻译：

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迈向欧盟气候智能型农业监管框架：土壤碳封存示例

本文评估了当前和拟议的欧盟 (EU) 气候和环境法，以及与共同农业政策 (CAP) 相关的法律文书，以了解土壤碳封存是否作为“气候智能型农业”的一个有希望的例子得到充分推广. 评估表明，当前和拟议的政策和工具不足以刺激整个欧洲大规模采用土壤碳项目。鉴于已确定的结构缺陷，这可能适用于所有气候智能型农业实践。需要开发一种替代方法。根据欧盟气候政策，农业应被纳入欧盟排放交易体系 (ETS)，允许受监管的行业从农业部门购买补偿，遵循澳大利亚和其他国家的榜样。新方法的第二个要素是针对 CAP，它需要更加关注减缓和适应气候变化的具体要求。然而，这种更强烈的关注并没有消除从 ETS 抵消中为农民探索新收入来源的必要性，因为 CAP 将永远不会有足够的资金来实现欧洲农业部门所需的深度和全面转型。