Lindéngruppen involved in Swedish agriculture carbon sequestration pilot

3
September
2021

Lindéngruppen is a partner to Svensk Kolinlagring – a platform for researchers, farmers and companies with the objective to promote carbon sequestration and regenerative practices in Swedish agriculture.

Pilskytten farm sown with alexandrines, blood clover, chicory, white clover and vetch as a medium crop in organic oats.

Partnering on carbon sequestration

Around 40 farms all over Sweden are part of the Svensk Kolinlagring pilot to test various measures to sequester carbon in the soil. This means that carbon dioxide from the atmosphere gets bound as carbon in the soil, which improves the long-term productivity and resilience of Swedish agriculture whilst it also reduces the impact of climate change. As one of the development partners, Lindéngruppen provides financial support, which includes grants of 1,000 SEK per hectare for the participating farms.

“Lindéngruppen is one of our 11 company partners that are helping us learn more about how to integrate carbon sequestration in corporate climate strategies,” says Lova Brodin, CEO MiljöMatematik Malmö AB. “Besides promoting local climate action with pioneering Swedish farms, development partners also play an important role in the knowledge co-creation and design of the platform, business models and framework for measuring, reporting and verification, and participating in workshops and seminars together with all Svensk Kolinlagring partners.”

Six core principles of regenerative agriculture. Image source: General Mills

Pilot for carbon sequestration in the Nordics

The pilot programme for 2021-22 brings together researchers, farmers, the food industry and other relevant stakeholders around the goal to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into Swedish arable lands. Svensk Kolinlagring is developing a framework for carbon sequestration that is adapted for the Nordic countries – with a focus on enabling, empowering and facilitating the transition to regenerative farming principles.

“We aim to develop the platform into an independent, not-for-profit, member-owned organisation that not only provides a market-based solution but creates a larger community with knowledge-sharing regarding carbon sequestration and the societal impact that the measures generate,” says Brodin.

Lindéngruppen’s farm involved in the pilot

Pilskytten, which is Lindéngruppen’s farm near Helsingborg in southern Sweden, is also an active member of the Svensk Kolinlagring pilot. This involves testing carbon sequestering actions in practice, and exploring the practices and results together with Svensk Kolinlagring.

“During 2021, we are testing three different methods of regenerative cultivation to sequester carbon on 70 hectares, and we intend to increase this to 200 hectares during the year,” says Henrik Ebbesson, Pilskytten Farm Manager. “This generally involves mimicking nature by keeping the soil covered all year round and disturbing the soil as little as possible to keep carbon in the soil and reduce vehicle emissions.”

The important role of agriculture in a low carbon world

We cannot keep the average global temperature increase below 1.5°C by only reducing our emissions – we must also capture, or sequester, carbon dioxide. Besides planting trees, an effective way of doing this is sequestering carbon dioxide in soil through regenerative agricultural practices.

The Svensk Kolinlagring platform is driving the development of systems to do just this – to sequester carbon dioxide and store it in Swedish agricultural land, which also improves the long-term productivity and resilience of Swedish agriculture.

“Lindéngruppen’s purpose is to empower its companies to lead the transformation to a sustainable world and therefore, we are committed to the possibilities of regenerative agriculture,” says Jenny Johansson, Chief Communication and Sustainability Officer at Lindéngruppen.

Lova Brodin, CEO MiljöMatematik Malmö AB and Henrik Ebbesson, Pilskytten Farm Manager