Forest carbon farming in focus at Joensuu Living Lab

The FORESTCARBOVISION project organised a Living Lab in Joensuu on 18 May 2026 to discuss the current state and future outlook of carbon markets from the perspective of forest-based carbon farming. The participants represented a broad range of the project’s key stakeholder groups, including Metsähallitus Metsätalous Oy, Tornator Oyj, the Regional Council of North Karelia, the City of Joensuu and the Finnish Environment Institute.

The stakeholder dialogue focused on the practical conditions needed for carbon farming to become a credible and functioning value chain in forestry. Participants discussed the role of improved forest management, extended rotation periods, market incentives, and the digital tools required for effective monitoring, reporting and verification.

A central message from the discussions was that trust remains a key bottleneck in carbon markets. Carbon farming systems are still perceived as complex, and several core questions remain unresolved, including additionality, baseline definition, permanence, unit quality and the risk of greenwashing.

The Living Lab also highlighted the importance of cost-efficient and lightweight MRV (Measurement, Reporting, Verification) solutions. Participants emphasised that credible carbon farming requires transparent methods, reliable data and clear rules, but the system must also remain practical and understandable for forest owners and other market actors.

Finland’s strengths were seen to lie in digital forest data, modelling, forest management expertise and the ability to develop scalable MRV solutions for boreal forestry. These capabilities support the creation of credible carbon farming services and help clarify the roles of different actors across the value chain, including forest owner platforms, calculation bodies, auditors, registries and marketplaces.

The discussions provided important input for the FORESTCARBOVISION project’s content development and stakeholder work.

Living Lab presentations:

• Vapaaehtoisten hiilimarkkinoiden tilanne ja näkymät & Hiiliviljelyn kannattavuuteen vaikuttavat tekijät. Ville Hietalahti, business advisor, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

• From forest carbon farming to digital forest twins. Evgeny Lopatin, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

• Älykkyyttä ja tarkkaa dataa harvennuksen tueksi. Kari Väätäinen, Senior Scientist,  Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)