Pioneering Companies Commit to Supporting Farmers through Agricultural Carbon Credits

Strategic Insights -

As the world grapples with climate change, a group of leading companies, including Boston Consulting Group, Shopify, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, and Indigo Agriculture, have committed to purchasing verified agricultural carbon credits through the Indigo Carbon program. This move represents a significant milestone in the effort to leverage agriculture as a climate solution by creating financial incentives for "farming carbon." The participating companies aim to help farmers improve soil health, reduce on-farm emissions, and replenish carbon in the soil.

Key Takeaways:

  • The participating companies, including Boston Consulting Group, Shopify, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, and Indigo Agriculture, have committed to purchasing verified agricultural carbon credits through the Indigo Carbon program.
  • The credits will be issued using new greenhouse gas (GHG) offset project methodologies developed by the Climate Action Reserve and Verra.
  • The participating companies represent a diverse range of sectors, including financial services, food and beverage, technology, and professional services, and have committed to net-zero carbon pledges.
  • Indigo Carbon enables companies to turn to agriculture as a nature-based, verified means of achieving their climate goals, with a credit purchase price of $20/tonne of carbon dioxide equivalents sequestered and abated in the 2020 growing season.
  • The methodologies developed by the Climate Action Reserve and Verra take a unique approach to quantifying net on-farm GHG emissions at scale, including aggregating many farmers together into grouped projects, leveraging new technologies, and employing both direct measurements of soil organic carbon over time and rigorous use of advanced biogeochemical process models.
  • The participating companies are among the first to leverage verified agricultural carbon credits as a meaningful part of their ESG strategies, with many committing to becoming net-zero.
  • Indigo Agriculture is committed to ensuring that farmers are equipped with the tools and solutions they need to improve the economic and environmental resiliency of their operations, through research and partnering with scientists to continuously improve public knowledge of agronomic practices and quantification methods.

Statistics:

  • The participating companies have committed to purchasing a total of $20/tonne of carbon dioxide equivalents sequestered and abated in the 2020 growing season.
  • Indigo Carbon has partnered with over 1 million growers across millions of acres, representing a significant portion of the agricultural industry.
  • The methodologies developed by the Climate Action Reserve and Verra have undergone extensive review by a 21-member working group of leading organizations, including the Woods Hole Research Center, Native Energy, C-Quest Capital, and The Nature Conservancy.
  • Verra is expected to approve the Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management (MIALM) within the next month.
  • The UN reports that the world must reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 to avoid the most severe effects of climate change.

Sources:

  • Indigo Agriculture
  • Climate Action Reserve
  • Verra
  • Businesswire.com
  • CNBC's Disruptor 50 list
  • Woods Hole Research Center
  • Native Energy
  • C-Quest Capital
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • World Resources Institute