Increase sustainability in the grapevine sector by introducing payments for ecosystem services - Italy
There is an increasing interest in the Payment of Ecosystem Services (PESs). Viticulture provides multiple ecosystem services to the whole community. However, Carbon Credits (CCs) saved by farmers through proper vineyard management are not currently remunerated. There is an increasing voluntary market, in which CCs can be sold to industries and individuals willing to voluntarily compensate for their emissions or provide an additional contribution to mitigating climate change.
Challenge: The challenge for accessing this market is to build up a system for calculating certified Verified Emission Reduction (VER) and make them available to buyers trough specialized exchanging platforms.
Sustainable innovation pilots activities:
a) A system calculation and tracing the CCs saved during the sustainable vineyard management by the farmers belonging to their association called 7Colli, will be developed by implementing new functionalities into the DSS of Horta.
b) A parametric insurance mechanism will also be introduced for the failing of sustainable vineyard management through the DSS.
c) A system will be then developed for calculating VER (Verified Emission Reduction; 1 VER= 1 ton of CO2equivalent emissions) according to ISO14064 standard, for certifing and selling them on the free market through specialised platforms and for sharing the revenue among farmers.
The contribution of the pilot to the three sustaibanility pillars of Ploutos will be the following:
Economic
The possibility to calculate CCs saved during the field phase and their selling on the free market represent a new income for farmers. The use of DSS will lead to cost reduction for viticultural operations.
Social
Farmers will benefit from the use of the DSS, which will give them indications on the best practices to manage their fields.
Environmental
The possibility to calculate the CO2 credits saved in the field stage can stimulate farmers to adopt sustainable techniques in their field management.
The contributing partners are the following:
