PATH2CC - Pathways to Carbon Credits for Small Farms in Europe

Why is PATH2CC needed? 

PATH2CC’s systemic approach addresses environmental and social challenges in the agri-food system and supports two EIT Food's missions: Net Zero and Reducing Risk for a Fair and Resilient Food System. In addition, by addressing current weaknesses of the Carbon Credits market, it contributes to a Resilient Food System and strengthens Food Security in Europe.

Onboarding small scale farms in Europe toward Net Zero 

First, it addresses the pressing need to achieve Net Zero, via transitioning to regenerative agriculture and making it a viable and sustainable choice from Farm to Fork. The project unlocks the access to the carbon credit market for 76% of EU agricultural holdings, via creating financial incentive to 7 million farmers to decrease their CO² emissions, enhance carbon sequestration in the soils, tackle biodiversity loss and improve soil health. 

Strengthening small scale farms economic viability

Secondly come the topics of social equity, capacity building and empowerment of rural communities. The project directly impacts small scale farming economic viability and farmers well-being, especially those in underserved regions, by strengthening the economic resilience of small farms, creating new revenue streams, diversifying income, and improving market access. Small-scale farmers will de-risk their transition to regenerative agriculture, and ultimately establishing it as a fair and commercially viable option at a broad scale. Successful pilot cases, stakeholder engagement and farm-to-farm activities will build trust in this model, boosting adoption rates. 

Improving carbon credit offering in Europe

By involving credit buyers, the project builds robust offsetting and in-setting business cases, driving emissions reduction across supply chains while supporting local rural communities. It fosters collaboration to generate opportunities and value across the Carbon Credit value chain. Businesses are increasingly seeking carbon credits that are local, transparent, and traceable. Credits’ buyers are concerned about greenwashing and lack clarity on carbon calculations, making it difficult to trust conventional offerings. 

PATH2CC addresses these challenges of the current Carbon Credits Market by providing a science-based, regionally-focused model that not only guarantees credible, verifiable credits but also helps keep value within the local value chain, supporting regional farmers and ecosystems. This approach gives buyers confidence that their sustainability efforts are meaningful, measurable, and locally impactful.

What is PATH2CC? 

Our results across three dimensions:

PATH2CC delivers three complementary Key Exploitable Results (KERs) that together create an end-to-end pathway connecting European companies seeking high-quality offsets with small farms generating credible, traceable credits. 

KER 1.1 – Advisory on Emissions Offsetting provides organizations with a science-based, transparent framework to assess in-setting and offsetting opportunities, design tailored roadmaps, benchmark platforms, and disclose impact, ensuring alignment with CSRD and Net Zero expectations while reducing reputational risk. 

KER 1.2 – Partnership Stream strengthens the carbon credit ecosystem by collaborating with trusted carbon credit platforms through a subscription model, improving transparency, mapping methodologies and regional coverage, and facilitating access to reliable European credits. 

KER 2 – Pathway to Carbon Credits for Small Farms enables smallholders to participate in the voluntary carbon market by offering: • a simplified LCA-based method to assess carbon, biodiversity, and soil health • viable business and organizational models to ensure economic resilience • peer-to-peer mentoring and knowledge sharing • multilingual training materials accessible through the COVERE² platform. 

Together, these KERs build a coherent, scalable system that supports farmers’ transition to regenerative agriculture while providing companies with high-quality, trustworthy European credits.

Towards the small European Farms: 

PATH2CC overcomes the barriers small-scale farmers face in accessing the carbon credit market by providing a comprehensive yet simplified framework for de-risking their sustainability transition. The project focuses on: 

1. raising awareness of carbon credits, their benefits and creating trust,
2. assessing farms' carbon footprints, biodiversity value increment, soil health and initiating the shift to regenerative practices,
3. certifying high-quality credits, combining mitigation effects with co-benefits for biodiversity,
4. implementing financially viable organizational models, and
5. connecting farmers with their peers, platforms and buyers. 

PATH2CC offers handbooks, advisory services, coaching, training videos, and educational resources, capitalizing on strong stakeholder engagement activities. PATH2CC fosters the adoption of regenerative agriculture among small farms, supports local rural community, while contributing to climate change mitigation.

Juntos Farm's mission is to grow regenerative food, farming and community in Ibiza

How will PATH2CC be delivered? 

Our consortium partners

• ELEKS Holding OÜ (Estonia)
• Juntos Farm (Spain)
• Molokia (Ukraine)
• Queen’s University Belfast (UK)
• University of Helsinki (Finland)
• University of Reading (UK) 

The consortium's strength lies in its rich complementarity, representing all sides of the EIT Food knowledge triangle. With an equal split between business and academic/university partners, it combines scientific excellence with hands-on, practical experience at the small farm level. The consortium is geographically diverse, and project includes pilot cases in various environment (Finland, Spain, and Ukraine). Four out of six partners are based in RIS countries.

All members bring a strong record in delivering similar projects. ELEKS -the coordinator and commercialization partner of PATH2CC is a world-leading expert in software innovation, employing 2500 professionals worldwide. 

Altogether, the consortium covers top notch expertise in agriculture, innovation, sustainability, digitalization and business development.

PATH2CC Partners during the first Consortium Meeting at Junto Farm, Spain

Our COVERE² platform 

COVERE² is a Research and Innovation project co-funded by the European Union through the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Food). The project is led by the University of Helsinki and carried out by a consortium of partners -Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), Vitagora, and ELEKS, running from 2023 to 2025. 

The outcome of this project is the COVERE² platform, a solution designed for the agri‑food sector to collect, verify, report, and ultimately reduce, greenhouse‑gas emissions. By providing granular, verifiable data on emissions and aligning with evolving sustainability standards and regulations, COVERE² helps food producers gain transparency and take concrete steps toward a lower‑carbon footprint. 

COVERE² and PATH2CC are deeply complementary. Through COVERE², agri-food producers, starting with the dairy sector, receive support not only in meeting compliance requirements but also in driving sustainability transformation. Such transformation, however, is only possible at a certain pace and to a certain extent, particularly in sectors like livestock. 

PATH2CC complements this by enabling both offsetting and insetting of emissions, offering farms additional financial incentives to accelerate their transition. Together, the two initiatives form a comprehensive pathway: Report – Transform – Offset/Inset, combining compliance, transformation, and revenue opportunities to scale real-world impact.

Results of PATH2CC will be available on the COVERE² platform and complement its offering. 

Visit us at covere2.eu

What is our Path Forward to Impact?

PATH2CC offers a transformative, science-based approach that bridges the gap between small-scale European farms and the carbon credit market. By providing farmers with the tools, knowledge, and financial incentives to adopt regenerative practices, the project strengthens local communities, enhances biodiversity, and improves soil health, while delivering credible, traceable carbon credits for buyers.

For businesses, PATH2CC ensures access to high-quality, regionally-focused credits that align with Net Zero goals, reduce reputational risk, and keep value within local value chains. When combined with the COVERE² platform, the project creates a seamless pathway to report, transform, and offset/inset emissions, fostering measurable, verifiable, and locally impactful sustainability outcomes.

Ultimately, PATH2CC demonstrates that climate action, economic resilience, and social equity can go hand in hand, building a fair, resilient, and sustainable European food system.