b'Carbon farmingVolume #3 / 2024 23ICOS can contribute to ascience-based monitoring system Carbon removals refers to the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for a long period in technical reservoirs or naturally in biomass or soil organic matter. The European Union is currently developing a carbon removal certification system to verify these. U nder the EU Carbon Removal CertificationAssessing carbon removals from carbon farming is an Framework, carbon removals would need toexample of where ICOS could be useful. be correctly quantified, ensure long-termAs there will be no one-size-fits-all-solution, we storage, prevent leaks and contribute toshould perhaps consider connecting the level of sustainability. Assessing all these aspects requires auncertainty to the amount of monetary compensation," robust methodology, which in turn, could become thesays Kutsch and continues: basis for a related monitoring, reporting and verification"Ideally, there would be a combined solution where (MRV) system. The question is how to create this. accurate but expensive monitoring programmes, similar A successful MRV system is a dilemma. It needsto those at existing ICOS ecosystem sites, are applied monitoring tools that are simple and inexpensiveto a few removal effort sites that are willing to host such when it comes to concrete measures, yet it needs toprogrammes. These would then serve as a testbed be comprehensive, accurate and transparent, saysto quantify the average result and the uncertainty of Werner Kutsch, Director General of ICOS.measures."All aspects are, however, hard to achieve: AThis quantification process could be combined with too-simple system might be cheap but also prone tomodels and a hierarchy of cheaper and simpler monitoring fraud or large uncertainties. On the other hand, highlyprogrammes, such as repeated soil stocktakes.sophisticated monitoring would be too expensive"The advantage of such a system is the financial and consume all the money that could be gained by adecoupling of the MRV costs from a single, concrete certificate. certificate and yet keeping highest scientific standards, In Kutschs opinion, an independent MRV system forsays Kutsch. Even the risks of droughts, etc. could be carbon removals would combine the monitoring of aincorporated.concrete measure (e.g. at a farm) with broad scientificThe required resourcesfor an MRV system should be knowledge and a sophisticated monitoring system thatcollected in a fund, Kutsch concludes: quantifies the carbon removal of this measure. "Given the volume of the market, a 1 % fee on each ICOS could help design such a system. It is alreadycertificate paid to this fund may be sufficient to support a carrying out high-quality monitoring of the necessarycomprehensive scientific MRV system."parameters and has the competence for analysis andThis initial idea, the levels of sophistication and guidance. ICOS could provide a scientific referencemethods for assessing the uncertainty as well as possible service but would not carry out the actual verificationfunding will be developed in the upcoming years in a cases.Horizon Europe project called IRISCC.'