The Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – are home to vast and valuable landscapes. Forests, wetlands and agricultural areas cover large parts of the region, providing important ecosystems while also offering opportunities for climate action. Farmers can play a particularly crucial role in the green transition: by changing how land is used, they can reduce emissions, protect natural carbon sinks and create new sources of income.

Projects under the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) ensure that land in the Baltic states is used in a climate-friendly way through innovative solutions. With their support, farmers are transforming their own agricultural land into green carbon sinks, protecting their wetlands and thereby sequestering greenhouse gases. Exhaust gases are utilised in the newly built biomethane plants. EUKI projects develop innovative solutions and promote the exchange of knowledge. In doing so, they help to reconcile the interests of farmers, local communities and climate targets. Rather than viewing climate action as an additional burden, these approaches demonstrate how sustainable land use can benefit both the environment and those who farm the land.

Using Land Twice: Agriculture Meets Climate Action

One promising approach is “dual land use”: using agricultural areas for more than one purpose at the same time. This allows farmers to maintain productive land while creating additional benefits for climate action.

One example is agroforestry – the integration of trees and shrubs into agricultural landscapes. The EUKI project Agroforestry: New Climate Heroes supports farmers in the Baltic region in introducing agroforestry practices that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving soil health and supporting agricultural productivity. Trees can help protect soils, increase biodiversity and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers. At the 70-hectare pilot site “Ilzenbergas Manor”, the project demonstrated how tree planting can be integrated into an agricultural operation in practice, to inspire large-scale adoption of agroforestry.

A similar principle applies to combining agriculture with renewable energy production. Farms across Europe face the challenge of reducing their carbon footprint while dealing with rising electricity costs. Solar energy on agricultural land can offer a solution: agricultural areas can continue to provide value while also generating clean electricity.

The EUKI project AGRIC – Advancing Photovoltaics in Agriculture develops and shares solutions that enable farmers, including in Lithuania, to use solar technologies as part of their agricultural land. Combining food production with renewable energy generation enables farms to contribute actively to the energy transition and create new economic opportunities.

Turning Unavoidable Emissions into a Resource

Not all emissions can currently be avoided. This is especially relevant for methane, a greenhouse gas with a much stronger short-term climate impact than carbon dioxide. Where methane emissions occur as a by-product of agricultural or economic activities and cannot be prevented, capturing and using the gas can reduce its climate impact.

Biomethane plants provide one solution: they capture methane emissions and convert them into a renewable energy source, reducing the need for fossil natural gas. The EUKI project Integrated Approach to Methane Emissions Abatement contributed to strengthening knowledge and capacities around methane reduction in Lithuania and supported efforts that led to investments in biomethane infrastructure worth 16 million euros.

Protecting Nature’s own Carbon Storage Systems

While innovative technologies are important, nature itself already provides powerful climate solutions. Peatlands and wetlands are among the most effective natural carbon sinks, storing large amounts of carbon accumulated over thousands of years.

However, many peatlands are not sufficiently protected. When drained or degraded, they can lose their ability to store carbon and can become sources of greenhouse gas emissions. EUKI projects help address this challenge by improving knowledge, supporting restoration and creating economic incentives for sustainable management.

The project INVESTIGATE – Improving National GHG Inventories for Organic Soils and Mitigation Potential analysed the status and greenhouse gas storage potential of peatlands in Latvia. This knowledge helps improve understanding of where CO² mitigation opportunities exist and how they can be integrated into national climate strategies.

Building on this foundation, the EUKI projects Baltic Peatland Farmers Capturing Carbon and Paludiculture in the Baltic Countries – Climate Protection by Productive Use of Rewetted Peatlands support farmers in using restored peatlands sustainably. Through approaches such as paludiculture – the productive use of rewetted peatlands – and new financing opportunities such as carbon certificates, protecting wetlands can become an economically viable activity.

Beyond individual farms, EUKI also supports the wider transition of agricultural systems. The project Landcare Europe – Supporting Natural Climate Protection in Agricultural Landscapes promotes climate-friendly farming practices in countries including Lithuania and works to integrate these approaches into European agricultural policy.

Across the Baltic states, EUKI projects demonstrate that sustainable land use does not have to mean choosing between agriculture and climate protection. By combining innovation, nature-based solutions and practical support for farmers, land can become a foundation for both resilient rural economies and effective climate action.