Context: why we must accelerate climate action

The European agricultural sector is facing a climate crisis. Droughts, floods, fires and shifting pest patterns are putting unprecedented pressure on farmers and rural economies. According to a recent policy paper by the Florence School of Transnational Governance, business-as-usual is no longer an option.

To stay productive and resilient, Europe’s agricultural model must evolve. The paper outlines several strategic pathways to accelerate climate action:

• Strengthening climate resilience in rural areas
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through cost-efficient technologies
• Boosting carbon removals through carbon farming
• Unlocking the untapped potential of the rural bioeconomy
• Creating effective incentives that reward sustainable practices

These interconnected paths aim to transform farmers from passive recipients of subsidies into active climate innovators, turning environmental challenges into long-term economic opportunities.

A new vision for farmers: the objective of the Strawman Proposal

The central goal of the Strawman Proposal is to make climate action economically viable and attractive for EU farmers. By giving predictability and financial incentives, the proposal aims to secure livelihoods, support investment, and foster the creation of new markets.

Rather than adding regulatory pressure, it promotes a positive, business-oriented approach, one that enhances productivity, reduces environmental risks, and brings rural Europe closer to climate neutrality.

Five interconnected incentive pillars for climate action

To achieve this vision, the Strawman Proposal outlines five concrete and interconnected policy measures:

1. Creating public demand for voluntary carbon farming
Public institutions can lead the way by committing to carbon-neutral procurement in food and land-based products. This creates a stable market for farmers who engage in verified carbon farming and carbon removal practices.

2. Creating private demand through downstream mandatory standards
By requiring companies to reduce the embedded carbon footprint of their agricultural supply chains, mandatory climate standards at the retail and processing levels would stimulate demand for climate-smart farming practices and carbon removals.

3. Creating lead markets for novel products
The bioeconomy holds enormous potential for climate mitigation, but many innovative bio-based materials still struggle to reach market scale. The proposal calls for targeted public policies, such as product standards, green criteria, quotas or fiscal incentives, to create “lead markets” for climate-positive materials. This would make it easier for rural industries and farmers to supply biodegradable packaging, bio-composites, and other sustainable alternatives that replace fossil-based products.

4. Introducing a farm-level incentive mechanism
A simplified and reliable system of climate payments directly to farmers would recognise their contribution to emission reductions and carbon removals, while encouraging innovation and investment at the farm level.

5. Prompt start for funding and investment in the land sector
To kickstart these transformations, immediate funding, public and private, is needed for infrastructure, advisory services, monitoring systems and innovative business models in rural areas.

How BRILIAN embodies these policy directions

The BRILIAN project is a tangible, on-the-ground response to the priorities set out in the Strawman Proposal.

By promoting cooperative bio-based business models in rural areas, BRILIAN aligns closely with all five incentive areas: it supports climate-smart farming practices that could feed into voluntary carbon markets, fosters value chains capable of meeting future climate standards, stimulates the market for bio-based and low-carbon products such as compostable packaging and starch derivatives, designs farmer-centred business models that ensure fair returns for sustainable practices, and builds a framework to attract investment and optimise infrastructure in rural innovation.

In short, BRILIAN demonstrates how policy ambition can be turned into real economic opportunities for rural communities.

👇To explore the full policy framework and recommendations, download the complete document.

European University Institute, Runge-Metzger, A., Vis, P. and Delbeke, J., Turning climate action in agriculture into a business case for EU farmers – A “strawman” proposal, European University Institute, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2870/5288689