Climate change and the collapse of biodiversity are intimately connected crises1: sharing some root causes and solutions, and interacting through complex feedback loops. Large-scale land use change for agriculture and urbanisation since 1850 and the intensification of agricultural land use in the last 70 years are estimated to have contributed nearly 25% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions2 and are known to be the most important causes for the collapse of biodiversity3. The common denominator is soil degradation, which comes in many forms, including through the loss of Soil Organic Matter (SOM), composed in part of soil organic carbon (further referred to as soil carbon). SOM is the fuel of soil life, which drives the cycling of nutrients and provides crucial ecosystem services. Soil degradation is therefore a major threat. Farmers are at the centre of this challenge, as they manage 40% of the EU’s land area, which currently emits around 330 Mt CO2e, 4,5 roughly as much as the entire gross emissions of Spain and Estonia combined*. The new focus on soil carbon in the EU through the “carbon farming” initiative presents opportunities to drive a new positive agenda for soils, with benefits for climate, but also for biodiversity, farm profitability, and resilience, provided the right policy and regulatory framework is in place. This will require, first, to clarify the meaning and scope of carbon farming. The EEB defines carbon farming as land management practices which reduce GHG emissions and increase the sequestration and storage of carbon in soils and vegetation. To do so while also benefitting biodiversity, water, and farmers’ livelihoods, carbon farming must adopt a holistic approach towards healthy soils and healthy ecosystems, grounded in the framework of “naturebased solutions”.6 That means rewetting and restoring drained organic soils (peatlands); managing grasslands in nature-inclusive ways; massively re-integrating trees in agricultural landscapes; and adopting agroecological, or regenerative, farming practices on arable land. Deploying these win-win-win solutions could turn agricultural land into a large carbon sink by 2050, while also restoring biodiversity and helping farmers adapt to climate change