Agreena, a Danish climate solutions company, has announced a landmark achievement for its pan-European soil carbon project which covers millions of hectares of arable farmland.
The AgreenaCarbon Project has become the first large-scale agricultural cropland project registered under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) VM0042 methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management (VM0042).
The VCS is the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas (GHG) crediting standard and is endorsed by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).
To achieve registration under the standard, the AgreenaCarbon Project went through several years of rigorous and independent assessment.
Agreena CEO, Simon Haldrup, said, “This is a pivotal moment for the regenerative agriculture movement and steering much-needed carbon finance to farmers. Agreena is now positioned to meet the significant demand for high integrity, nature-based, European credits in the Voluntary Carbon Market. In doing so, we will be supporting companies to meet their net zero targets and nature-climate ambitions, where there is mounting pressure on them with sustainability disclosures. Regenerative agriculture is a vital nature-climate solution to improve soil health, biodiversity and climate resilience across Europe.”
Conventional farming methods are emissions intensive and have led to significant soil degradation and biodiversity loss, while the pressure on food production systems to keep pace with growing populations is immense.
Regenerative farming addresses these challenges by promoting practices that rebuild soil organic matter, sequester carbon, and enhance biodiversity, making farms more resilient to climate change and economically viable in the long term.
Soil is the Earth’s second-largest carbon sink, after the ocean, and carbon sequestration in agriculture has been identified by the United Nations’ IPCC as one of the top solutions to scale climate action, with the potential to remove up to five gigatons of CO2 annually by 2050.
Agreena’s Project supports and incentivises farmers to shift to regenerative farming by drawing in finance to cover the initial costs of the transition, such as new farm machinery investments and temporary production yield losses. Carbon credits are part of Agreena’s suite of financial solutions for farmers delivering valuable ecosystem services.
Haldrup said, “Serving as the first-mover in the market to undergo this process of utilising the rigorous top-tier scientific methodology, Verra’s validation of the AgreenaCarbon Project can give credit buyers confidence that they are investing in quality soil carbon credits. This is one of the most nascent, yet promising, carbon removal methods to deliver positive outcomes for climate, nature, and people.”