Carbon footprint as a mark of quality for agricultural products
Practical tools for farmers to understand, reduce, and manage their climate impact
It is becoming increasingly important for agricultural producers to know the carbon footprint of their farms and products. With the World-Climate Farm Tool developed by Carbon Standards International, we provide farmers with an innovative and efficient tool to calculate their farm climate balance.
Both the overall farm climate balance and the carbon footprint of products such as grain, coffee, cocoa, milk, meat and more are important. The certificates issued not only enable the communication of these results to partners, but also represents and additional mark of quality for agricultural products.
In the future, agriculture will probably be the most affected industrial sector by the advancing global climate change. Switzerland, Italy, Austria and other Alpine countries were considered "water castles" and it was hardly conceivable that water would become scarce for agricultural production in these regions. However, for agricultural producers worldwide, it is now a matter of preparing their farms for the challenges of the future, also in regard to climate resilience.
Glaciers have a significant influence on the water balance in the Alpine region. To elaborate a little more on the situation in Europe, let's take the development of ice masses in Switzerland.
"The melting of glaciers in Switzerland was again enormous in 2025. A winter with little snow combined with heat waves in June and August led to a loss of three percent of the glacier's volume. This is the fourth largest loss since measurements began. The ice mass has thus decreased by a quarter in the last ten years." Source: Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), November 2025
A first important step in this process is to calculate the individual carbon footprint of the farm and their products – as this is the base to improve the climate impact of farming. This step is not yet about achieving impressive low values, but rather about understanding the “on farm situation”. It will then quickly become clear where the "emission hotspots" of the farm are situated and an initial assessment will become possible.
Based on these results, well evaluated measures for the future can be planned and implemented. These measures can improve the climate balance and the sustainability of agricultural production in the future.
In addition to the existing economic challenges, agricultural producers today are called to protect and, if possible, improve their production bases for the future. This will depend on effective water management, soil carbon management, emission reduction, the production and application of EBC and WBC biochar, the implementation of agroforestry and the implementation of further carbon storage projects. Organic and regenerative farming methods can significantly support this process.
The CEO's, Ueli Steiner's perspective:"As an organic farmer, I am familiar with the economic benefits of using EBC and WBC biochar in agriculture. When used correctly, this increases the security of preserving the production bases of farmers for the future."
Use the World-Climate Farm Tool! Get in touch with us, we will be happy to help you!
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