Olive Council Advances Plan to Bring Olive Grove Carbon Credits to European Market

The International Olive Council plans to align its olive grove carbon credit scheme with European Union rules and integrate it with the E.U. registry by the end of 2028.

Carbon credits generated by olive groves under an International Olive Council scheme are expected to be sold across the European Union.

Following member countries’ approval of the second phase of its Carbon Balance Project, the International Olive Council confirmed to Olive Oil Times that the certification scheme is intended to be fully compatible with the European Union’s Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification Framework.

Juan Antonio Polo Palomino, head of the IOC’s Olive Oil Technology and Environment Department, said the organization expects to begin the European recognition process in 2027. It aims to have the scheme fully operational and integrated with the E.U. registry by the end of 2028.

The second phase builds on a pilot project that generated 110 carbon balance assessments covering approximately 20,000 hectares of olive groves in 16 countries.

Each assessment compared greenhouse gas emissions from farming activities with the carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere and stored in olive trees and soil.

The resulting balance, expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare per year, indicates whether an olive grove is a net source of emissions or a net carbon sink.

These calculations provide the basis for determining how many carbon credits an olive-growing project may generate. Each credit generally represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent removed from the atmosphere or prevented from being released after the result has been independently verified and certified.

According to Polo Palomino, the pilot confirmed the conclusions of earlier modeling studies conducted by the IOC, which estimated that olive groves could sequester an average of about 4.16 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per hectare annually.

“That figure has been confirmed through external validation and certification processes using the primary data provided by 110 reports registered on the platform,” he told Olive Oil Times.

Polo Palomino said the pilot also demonstrated widespread interest in carbon farming across the olive sector. It also showed that the IOC’s digital platform could provide “a robust and accurate carbon balance assessment across diverse olive-growing systems.”

The platform remains freely available to growers, cooperatives and other olive sector operators. Users can calculate the carbon balance of individual olive groves and simulate how changes in agricultural practices could improve their environmental performance.

While the pilot focused on measuring and validating carbon sequestration, the second phase will concentrate on building the institutional and technical infrastructure needed to certify and register voluntary carbon credits.