Al Dahra and Agreena announce carbon farming project on the EU’s largest arable farm at COP28

A partnership between UAE agribusiness, Al Dahra, and Danish climate agtech company, Agreena, will see the largest consolidated arable farm in the European Union transition to regenerative agriculture. More than 55,000 hectares of arable land on the Al Dahra-owned Agricost farm on Great Braila Island in Romania will enter Agreena’s soil carbon programme.

The two global players signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sunday 10 December at COP28, signifying a pivotal partnership between Al Dahra and Agreena that will unite their strengths and expertise to collaborate globally.

The agricultural industry is in a unique position to play a critical role in sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The agrifood system accounts for approximately one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the agricultural industry also provides a significant opportunity to be a part of the climate solution. By incentivising farmers to transition from conventional to regenerative farming practices, Agreena supports farmers to turn their soils into carbon sinks, removing and storing CO2 from the atmosphere.

“Sustainability is a core value and a commercially compelling driver for Al Dahra, and this project represents a major step in our ongoing journey. Transitioning our Braila farm, working with partners like Agreena, unlocks the financial and environmental benefits of regenerative agriculture. This enables us to contribute meaningfully to sustainably feeding our growing world, while also enhancing our business resilience and profitability. We view this as a significant milestone, and we are committed to expanding our regenerative agriculture footprint at every opportunity,” said Al Dahra Group CEO, Arnoud van den Berg.

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As part of the programme, the Romanian farm will undertake a range of regenerative agriculture practices, such as optimal use of cover crops and reduced soil disturbance, moving away from conventional farming practices that are traditionally associated with row crops. Agreena’s internationally accredited and third-party validated programme quantifies the farm’s greenhouse gas reductions and CO2 removals using an IPCC-aligned scientific methodology and a robust measurement, reporting, and verification protocol with cutting-edge technology. The result is the issuance of high-integrity carbon removal credits under the world’s largest voluntary carbon market standard, which can support the financing of the regenerative transition.

“Agreena is proud to be working with Al Dahra to achieve the transition of the EU’s largest consolidated farm to regenerative agriculture. Nature-based solutions, including regenerative agriculture, are among the most effective for mitigating climate change by 2030 and this project demonstrates that the private sector is working to deliver impact at scale,” said Simon Haldrup, CEO of Agreena. “With this carbon farming project, we’re sowing the seeds of sustainable change in agriculture across Europe.”

The project will be Agreena’s largest to date, further underlining the company’s leading position in European carbon farming following its recent announcement that two million hectares have been contracted on its Agreena Carbon programme.