Agriculture has long been central to human survival, providing food security and enabling the development of complex cultural and economic systems. However, in recent decades, it has also emerged as a major driver of environmental degradation, contributing significantly to biodiversity loss, climate change, and the transgression of planetary boundaries. This ecological crisis threatens not only ecosystems, but also the long-term viability of agriculture itself and broader social and economic stability. While agriculture is fundamentally rooted in biological processes that operate in synchrony with Earth’s natural cycles, the current economic model often incentivizes practices that undermine these systems rather than preserve them. This paper adopts a narrative integrative review approach to examine the multifaceted role of agriculture in climate mitigation, with a special focus in the EU. It explores carbon farming—soil-based carbon sequestration practices—as a potential path¬way to reconcile ecological integrity with economic viability. By integrating agri¬culture into the EU Emissions Trading System, carbon farming could generate new revenue streams aligned with ecosystem regeneration, positioning agriculture not as a climate problem, but as part of the solution. Ultimately, this review argues that addressing the challenges of modern agriculture requires a systems-thinking perspective—one that acknowledges its biological, economic, and socio-cultural di¬mensions—and informs the design of integrated policies and market mechanisms to support a just and regenerative transition.
