Ecosystem Service Market Consortium and SustainCERT Team Up to Deliver Certified Greenhouse Gas Impacts
SustainCERT and the Ecosystem Service Market Consortium (ESMC) announce their partnership to deliver streamlined, certified carbon assets that can be used by Consortium members to satisfy their voluntary greenhouse gas reduction commitments. The ESMC is building a national-scale ecosystem services market designed and conceived for the agricultural sector. With a full market launch in 2022, ESMC seeks to enroll 30 percent of available working lands in the top four crop regions and top four pasture regions to impact 250 million acres by 2030. With SustainCERT’s focus on providing streamlined certification for multiple claims and ESMC’s ability to deliver agricultural programs at scale, this partnership aims to meet companies’ needs for credible, verified impacts to achieve Science-based Targets and Net-Zero goals.
ESMC will submit their new Ecosystem Services Market Protocol for approval to Gold Standard, the benchmark standard for climate action, with guidance from SustainCERT. When approved, the protocol will be able to generate carbon credits and reporting claims
under Gold Standard’s Value Change Program. In parallel, ESMC and SustainCERT will work to create a streamlined verification pathway to certify the impacts of its member programs for either carbon credits or value chain “Scope 3” carbon footprint reductions. The rigor of the accounting protocols combined with impact verification will enable companies to maximize the return on their climate investments, and to channel resources to high-impact climate action more effectively.
“We are excited to be working with SustainCERT to certify our innovative protocols designed to reward farmers and ranchers for the multiple ecosystem services their regenerative and sustainable practices can achieve,” said ESMC Executive Director Debbie Reed. “ESMC’s market design meets multiple demand side needs, and SustainCERT certification will provide the necessary assurances and credibility that our members, stakeholders and buyers require.
SustainCERT CEO, Marion Verles, echoed her support for the partnership saying, “True progress towards the objectives under the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals requires real impact. By providing flexible and streamlined pathways to impact certification, while maintaining the rigour of internationally recognized best practice, SustainCERT and ESMC are demonstrating impact verification works at scale and creates value for both the planet and companies.”
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About the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium
The Ecosystem Services Market Consortium LLC was formed in May 2019. ESMC’s mission is to advance ecosystem service markets that incentivize farmers and ranchers to improve soil health systems that benefit society. ESMC LLC is a member-based organization launching a national scale ecosystem services market for agriculture to recognize and reward farmers and ranchers for their environmental services to society. ESMC members represent the spectrum of the agricultural sector supply chain with whom we are scaling sustainable agricultural sector outcomes, including increased soil carbon, reduced net greenhouse gases, and improved water quality and water use conservation. ESMC Founding Circle members include: ADM; Bunge; Cargill; Corteva Agriscience; Danone North America; General Mills; Land O’Lakes Inc.; McDonald’s USA; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; Nestle; Noble Research Institute, LLC; Nutrien; The Nature Conservancy; the Soil Health Institute; and Syngenta. An additional 37 Legacy Partners make up the ESMC. (www.ecosystemservicesmarket.org)
About SustainCERT
SustainCERT is the official certification body for Gold Standard for the Global Goals, offering flexible, tech-driven solutions to create customized certification pathways. A user-centric approach allows SustainCERT to efficiently embed impact assessment and assurance into interventions, to more accurately and credibly report the impacts achieved. (https://www.sustain-cert.com/)
