# Low-Carbon Certification Systems in Agriculture: A Review
## 4 Conclusions  
The growing concern over climate change and the need to mitigate GHG emissions have prompted the development of sustainable practices across various industries. In the agricultural sector, there is a growing demand for agricultural products that are produced with minimal GHG emissions. Consumers, retailers, and policymakers are increasingly seeking assurance that the agricultural products they consume or promote are contributing to a greener and more sustainable future. To meet this demand, the development of a certification procedure for agricultural products with low carbon/GHG emissions has become imperative. In this context, the objective of this paper was to identify, present, and analyze the most globally important and operational low-carbon certification systems in agriculture, highlighting their role in reducing GHG emissions and supporting the transition to sustainable agricultural practices. So far, most efforts towards developing low-carbon certification schemes were made in Europe. The main European low-carbon certifications, namely, Solagro, Label bas Carbone/LCL, LEAF Marque Standard, and Wineries for Climate Protection (WfCP), are initiatives that aim to promote sustainable practices within the agricultural sector and are strongly related to the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) that supports farmers and rural stakeholders across the 27 EU countries. Moreover, the recently developedLIFE-ClimaMED certification tool using real-time measurements and an innovative Tier 3 methodology has been validated for various products in 15 fields located in various parts of Greece. Beyond the EU, only a single important initiative has been undertaken in 2014 in the Republic of Korea for the development of a low-carbon certification scheme in agriculture. Consequently, the current analysis remains predominantly focused on the EU, where most advanced certification efforts have been concentrated. This presents a limitation, as major agricultural emitters such as the United States, China, and Russia, who bear significant responsibility in mitigating climate change through the reduction in CO\({}_{2}\) emissions in agriculture, have made limited progress in implementing comparable systems. Moreover, several other bottlenecks persist across regions, including divergent national priorities, heterogeneous agricultural practices and product types, limited market access and consumer demand, lack of quantitative data (baselines, carbon offsets/credits, and coverage), and variable administrative, monitoring, and implementation costs associated with certification. These factors do not easily enable a reliable direct comparison, harmonization, and scalability of low-carbon certification systems across various economic, environmental, and policy contexts. While this study addresses many of these issues, future review analyses should expand the scope to include newly developed low-carbon certification systems beyond Europe and examine their reliability, implementation challenges, and effectiveness in various agricultural and policy contexts. Overall, the implementation of low-carbon certification schemes for the production of green agricultural products has noticeable benefits for farmers, citizens, and the environment. However, in today's unstable political scene, where the rules of the game may change at the EU level and elsewhere, several challenges exist and several bottlenecks need to be overcome. Some of these challenges were recently highlighted by farmer protests across the EU due to their dissatisfaction as a result of falling prices, import competition, and bureaucratic burdens imposed from environmental regulations. Furthermore, other factors, including the war in Ukraine and inflation, give a higher importance to issues such as food security and import dependence and may prevent farmers from joining such important initiatives as the low-carbon certificates.