A significant European project to lower the GHG footprint of the forestry and agrifood industries only includes Lithuanian participants

Ten national partners will carry out the GFarm for LIFE project in accordance with the European Commission's aim of creating a climate-resilient future. Participants in the project's official launch event on September 20 at the Senators' Passage discussed the chance for Lithuania to stand out in Europe by achieving the project's goals: creating a framework for a national carbon sink certification and monitoring system, as well as creating a more effective GHG assessment and registry model for the agriculture, forestry, and other land use sectors.

Although the energy sector has the worst environmental effects, 20–24% of world emissions come from agriculture, forestry, and other land use. The same sector, which includes all of a country's land used for agriculture, is essential for mitigating climate change since it absorbs GHGs through soil, biomass, and wood.

The strategic goals that GFarm for LIFE partners has established will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of this procedure in Lithuania. The project's success is anticipated to serve as a model for identifying approaches to more sustainable land management and enhancing sector resilience at the European level.

"LIFE is the EU's main umbrella programme to promote action on the environment and climate. Lithuania is a leader in the climate change priority, as we are partners in 27 out of 44 projects. GFarm for LIFE's theme of addressing the challenges of agriculture is unique among them all. These are truly great achievements that raise the bar for even more ambitious action and deserve to be proud of the work we have already done," said Kęstutis Šetkus, Deputy Minister of Environment, in his welcome speech, and highlighted the Ministry's focus on the project as a project of great importance at both national and European level.

GFarm for LIFE will be coordinated by the cluster and the digital innovation center, AgriFood Lithuania. Project partners: National Paying Agency (NPA), the State Forest Service, Vytautas Magnus University, the Lithuanian Forest and Land Owners Association (LMSA), JSC ART21, JSC Dojus AGRO, JSC Litagra, JSC Melda, and JSC Strategy LABS.

"We frequently collaborate with foreign partners on worldwide projects, but this is a rare case where everyone involved is from Lithuania. Consequently, the national consortium will have the chance to influence European policy recommendations. Furthermore, the participation of such significant institutions as universities, the agrifood sector, forestry, and the companies that support innovation in these sectors demonstrates that Europe has confidence in us for a good reason. I am confident that a constructive partnership will help to achieve the best results", said Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė, Director of AgriFood Lithuania, sharing the project's prospects.

All participants in the discussion agreed that this initiative represents exceptional potential for Lithuania. The development of a trustworthy GHG credit certification process and registration platform that can be used throughout Europe is being done in collaboration with public agencies, non-profit organizations, academia, and business. Most importantly, the partners regard this activity as long-term, high-impact national cooperation rather than just a project that produces methodology and IT tools.

The budget of almost €2.7 million is supported and partly financed by the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, with the European Commission contributing 60% of the funds. GFarm for LIFE will run for 3 years.

 


GFarm for LIFE Opening Event – Kick-off meeting

The project’s GFarm for LIFE opening event – Kick-off meeting will take place on the 20th of September, 2023, at Senatorių pasažas in Vilnius. During this event, the coordinator, partners, and honorable guests will discuss the main goal: to develop a systematic ecosystem model for a more accurate and reliable assessment and register of GHG in agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector and design a framework for a national carbon absorption certification and monitoring.

The welcome speech will be given by the Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania Simonas Gentvilas. Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as of the partners participating in the project, will share their insights during presentations and a discussion.

“The Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector represents 20-24% of total emissions globally and is the largest emitting sector after energy. The same sector, covering all of Lithuania’s territory and agricultural land, is vital for climate change mitigation, absorbing greenhouse gasses (GHG) in soil, biomass, and wood. A Certification of Carbon Removals and a systematic ecosystem model for a more accurate and reliable assessment and register of national GHG in the AFOLU sector is needed. This underscores the importance of sustainable land management in achieving climate goals and shaping a resilient AFOLU sector. Supporting these initiatives and projects like GFarm for LIFE is crucial for a sustainable and climate-resilient future in Lithuania and Europe”, says Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė, the CEO of AgriFood Lithuania, who coordinates the project.

Also, during the opening event – Kick-off meeting, it is planned to discuss the strategic challenge of the project: achieving national and EU climate change mitigation and adaptation targets by enabling systemic change in part of Lithuania’s AFOLU sector and governance regarding GHG emission reduction and implementing carbon farming initiatives.

The agenda of the first part of the event will be followed by the project’s partners’ meeting, where the team will present themselves and the working plan for each WP, discuss already achieved results and milestones, current tasks and upcoming deliverables.

Gfarm For Life Project Kick-Off Event

Venue: Senatorių pasažas, Dominikonų str. 11, Vilnius

08:30-09:30 Breakfast


09:30-09:40 Opening ceremony
Event moderator Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė, CEO of AgriFood Lithuania DIH


09:40-09:55 Welcome speech
Kęstutis Šetkus, Vice-Minister of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania


09:55-10:10 Climate Change Management Policy. Objectives and challenges.
Vilija Augutavičienė, Head of the Climate Policy Group at the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania


10:10-10:20 Policy Relevance of Carbon Farming in Lithuania
Tadas Švilpauskas, Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania


10:20-10:50 GFarm. Is this an opportunity for Lithuania to stand out in Europe?
Augustas Alešiūnas, innovative entrepreneur, business angel, and startup ecosystem expert


10:50-11:10 A model of GHG emissions and CO2 absorption accounting suitable for national accounting
Vice-Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rytis Skominas, Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy


11:10-11:25 The significance of GFarm for the work of the State Forest Service
Saulius Vasiliauskas, Director of the State Forest Service


11:25-11:50 Panel discussion. The importance of national GHG accounting and certification of carbon sinks for the Lithuanian Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) sector
Kęstutis Šetkus, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania
Valdas Kaubrė, CEO of the State Forest Enterprise
Saulius Vasiliauskas, Director of the State Forest Service
Donatas Dailidė, CEO of DOJUS Group


11:50-12:00 Closing remarks
Event moderator Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė, CEO of AgriFood Lithuania DIH


12:00-13:00 Lunch


13:00-16:00 Project partners working session