Agricultural Carbon Outcomes

Through EcoHarvest, ESMC enables credible, scalable climate action across the supply chain 

Addressing Scope 3 emissions is essential for CPGs to reduce their overall emissions. For many, Scope 3 emissions represent the largest share of their total footprint, often driven by on-farm activities to grow ingredients for their products. 

Agriculture presents one of the most immediate and scalable opportunities to reduce emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere. The challenge is ensuring that those outcomes are measured consistently, verified rigorously, and aligned with evolving corporate reporting standards.  

Our EcoHarvest program enables CPGs and other corporations to partner with agricultural producers to adopt regenerative practices—such as cover cropping, reduced tillage, and improved nutrient management—while tracking and reporting verified environmental outcomes. Through EcoHarvest projects, ESMC quantifies reductions/removals in carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, as well as increases in soil organic carbon. These outcomes can be in the form of: 

• Scope 3 soil organic carbon removals 
• Scope 3 GHG emissions reductions 
• Improved emissions factors 

The EcoHarvest program, protocols, and resulting outcomes are aligned with leading international accounting and reporting standards (including both intervention and inventory accounting), such as the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol guidance for the Scope 3 corporate reporting market.  

Why Scope 3 in Agriculture Matters

Scope 3 emissions in agriculture are both a risk and an opportunity. Corporations face growing pressure from investors, customers, and society to demonstrate progress against climate commitments. Regenerative agricultural practices included in EcoHarvest can reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions, increase soil carbon sequestration, improve resilience and productivity, and deliver co-benefits for water quality and biodiversity.

Ensuring Credibility and Market Confidence

For Scope 3 agricultural outcomes to be meaningful, they must be: 

• Science-based: Grounded in peer-reviewed models and regionally relevant data  
• Transparent: Built on clear, standardized methodologies  
• Verifiable: Supported by robust monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems
• Aligned: Consistent with leading corporate reporting frameworks and guidance  

Strong protocols and MRV infrastructure are critical to ensuring that EcoHarvest outcomes and emission factors are not only real but trusted by stakeholders across the supply chain.