Green Economy and CO2.2

GECO 2.2

February 01, 2024 until July 31, 2026 Official web site of the project

• Programme: INTERREG V-A CBC Italy-Croatia 2021.-2027.
• Programme priority: Green and resilient shared environment
• Lead partner: Molise toward 2000
• Project budget (100%):  2.056.525,00 EUR 
  • ERDF (80%):   1.645.220,00 EUR
  • FdR (13%):         267.252,80 EUR
  • Private contribution (1,46%):  30.000,00 EUR
  • Public contribution (5,54%):  114.052,20 EUR

Partners:

• Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari - CIHEAM IAMB (IT)
• Zadar County Rural Development Agency - AGRRA (CRO)
• Dubrovnik-Neretva County (CRO)
• Coldiretti Molise Regional Federation (IT)
• Legacoop Marche (IT)
• Olive growers association Kaštela ''Mastrinka'' (CRO)

Associated partners:

• Ministry of Agriculture od the Republic of Croatia (HR)
• Emilia Romagna Region (IT)
• Apulia Region (IT)

Brief description of the project:

The GECO2.2 project builds on the results of the previous GECO2 initiative, which established the first experimental voluntary market for carbon credits from agriculture. The successful outcomes and challenges identified in the original project led the partners to design GECO2.2 to pursue and consolidate the work done, also in the light of the increasing environmental emergencies and the new legislative scenario in Europe.

The project promotes agricultural practices that increase carbon stocks in soil and biomass, make farms more resilient to floods and droughts, thereby reducing disaster risks, and enhance ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Project outcomes include raising public awareness of climate change and local agricultural solutions, enabling businesses to offset their carbon footprint with regional credits, creating self-sustaining local solutions without relying on public funding, and developing a scalable and replicable market model for regional carbon markets across Europe.

The main objective of the project:

To address these issues, GECO 2.2 will promote a series of activities aimed at:

1. Improving climate change awareness: Raising awareness about climate change and its impacts.

2. Exploring adaptation and mitigation methods: Investigating new climate adaptation and mitigation methods within economic frameworks.

3. Promoting environmentally friendly farming: Introducing and encouraging sustainable farming practices such as soil regeneration and increasing grass diversity in ecotone areas to mitigate climate risks.

4. Enhancing farming processes: Improving farming processes to reduce erosion and flooding risk, and to enhance farming quality.

5. Creating a CO2 market in agriculture: Developing a carbon market within the agricultural sector.

6. Long-term well-being: Achieving long-term improvements in well-being by reducing environmental risks and capturing carbon in the soil/plant system.

By leveraging these opportunities for change, GECO 2.2 aims to assist communities and businesses across the partner regions.

The main results of the project:

• RCR104_2.1: Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations 
• RCR79_2.1: Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations
• RCR81_2.1: Completion of joint training schemes