January 2024 ESMC Newsletter
ED Update: ESMC Issues Verified Impact Units for Corporate Agricultural Supply Chain Buyers
Eco-Harvest is one of only two agricultural carbon programs to achieve 3rd party SustainCERT validation and verification for supply chain Impact Units for corporate buyers, as announced last week. This accomplishment reflects years of planning, coordination, investment and hard work with many stakeholders – our team, our funders, our members, our contractors, and most importantly, the farmers that participated in Eco-Harvest projects. It’s a big accomplishment for everyone involved and we are both proud and humbled and want to express our gratitude to everyone for their support and engagement. Thank you!
The Impact Units represent measured and verified greenhouse gas reduction outcomes from Eco-Harvest projects. SustainCERT’s third-party validation and verification demonstrates that Eco-Harvest outcomes are credible, verified, and aligned with corporate Scope 3 greenhouse gas reporting standards and guidance. Corporate buyers of Eco-Harvest impact units can claim greenhouse gas reductions and removals with confidence, showing real progress towards decarbonizing their agricultural supply chains and meeting GHG commitments.
With this latest accomplishment, we look to continue to scale our programming. Our team is working on co-investments of multiple buyers of these impact units now – part of our collective engagement and collective success programming – and we will soon share case studies documenting how the co-investment models work to achieve efficiencies and speed success.
As part of our continued thought leadership in this space, we are also working to host frank discussions on the ongoing challenges in supply chain collective action programming, to ensure that we are building integrated programming for corporate investors taking on the challenges of not just climate change but also of water use, water quality, land use, and biodiversity. We cannot evolve separate accounting and reporting without risking reduced investments across the board or investments in some areas at the expense of others. Action and investments in climate change, water impacts, nature and biodiversity are inter-related and must continue jointly and not at the expense of one over another.
We will also continue to examine credible approaches to balance scientific rigor with speed and scale while transforming agricultural supply chains – without sacrificing integrity.
Finally, we will highlight the lessons learned from the past five years to understand how to continue to improve market-based programming, including streamlining validation and verification and collapsing the timelines.
Come join us – if you are not a member of ESMC, consider joining our dynamic and collaborative organization.
ESMC is Hiring for Two Positions – A Protocol and Standards Manager & Director of Business Development
If you or someone you know would like to join our team, ESMC has two positions open and encourages you to apply or circulate to potentially interested parties. Find more information and application details for these two positions on our website.
Look for ESMC At…..
Addressing Gaps in Carbon Modeling
January 31 – February 2; St. Louis, MO
ESMC’s Chief Scientist Chris Smallwood will represent ESMC as an invited participant at the HabiTerre/IN2 workshop titled ‘Addressing Gaps and Inconvenient Truths in Ag Cropland Carbon Modeling’. This workshop is designed to foster an in-depth, collaborative (academia, industry, government), and transparent discussion centered around critical needs for advancing the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions on agricultural lands. Desired outcomes from this workshop include transparent discussions on the science supporting ag GHG emissions, an evaluation framework for ag GHG emissions models that can be applied across the industry, and development of a white-paper documenting R&D needs to rapidly advance quantification approaches.
National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) 78th Annual Meeting
February 10 – 14, 2024; San Diego, CA
NACD’s Annual Meeting is a premier event for leaders in conservation, from district officials and agency representatives to industry professionals. Each year, the meeting draws over 1,000 conservation leaders from across the United States and its territories. ESMC’s COO Alana Pacheco will co-lead a presentation with ESMC Legacy Partner member EarthOptics, entitled “Advancing Producer Engagement and MMRV in Ecosystem Services Markets: Lessons Learned from Three Years Conducting Projects.” Read more and register.
GreenBiz24
February 12 – 14; Phoenix, AZ
GreenBiz 24 is the premier conference for sustainable business leaders seeking hands-on, tangible solutions in 2024. Join this growing community to recharge and learn what’s next in decarbonization, biodiversity, supply chains, strategic communications and much more. ESMC’s Policy Engagement Director, Marcus Glassman, will attend the event. Read more and register.
2024 Phosphorous Forum
February 21 – 22; Tempe, AZ
The 2024 Phosphorous Forum is organized by the Sustainable Phosphorous Alliance and the STEPS Center. This year’s event will focus on finding agricultural solutions to phosphorous pollution and sustainable management. At this event, ESMC’s Chief Scientist Chris Smallwood will be part of a panel of experts in the session Modeling, Monitoring, and Measuring P Management Impacts, where he will discuss ESMC’s offerings in water quality and how this impacts phosphorous sustainability. Read more and register.
ESMC in the News
Spotlight On Carbon Credit Markets in Regenerative Agriculture, Forestry – SLM Partners
Wealth Briefing (January 30)
SLM Partners, a global real assets investment manager (and ESMC Legacy Partner member), is developing partnerships to open up carbon credit markets in regenerative agriculture and forestry practices. In the US, the firm believes that there is growing demand from corporates for voluntary soil carbon credits for insetting and offsetting purposes. The firm partnered with the non-profit organization Ecosystem Service Market Consortium to create a large-scale pilot to assess the carbon benefits of transitioning conventional cropland to organic certification in the US Midwest. Read the full article.
5 Years In, How Does General Mills’ Regenerative Agriculture Commitment Measure Up?
GreenBiz (January 18)
General Mills aims to advance regenerative agriculture on 1 million acres of land by 2030, a promise it made in 2019. That commitment is one way it hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its value chain 30 percent by 2030 and to net zero by 2050. “We are about halfway there, with 500,000 acres engaged in our programs,” said Jay Watson, General Mills’ director of regenerative agriculture, (and ESMC Board Member) in an interview. The article highlights ESMC’s partnership with General Mills (an ESMC funder and Founding Circle member). Read the full article.
ESMC Member and Funder News
Managing Supply Chains Towards Net Zero
Altruistiq (January 29)
At COP28, the Altruistiq team interviewed Autumn Fox, Climate Sustainability Senior Manager at Mars, to understand how she is navigating a global supply chain towards Net Zero. Autumn plays a pivotal role in Mars’ corporate environmental team, overseeing their Climate, Land and Deforestation targets (involving a hefty amount of internal and external stakeholder collaboration and upskilling), SBTi target setting, and keeping on top of the latest protocols. Mars is an ESMC Legacy Partner member. Read the full interview.
NY’s First Dairy Farm Biochar Kiln Advances Green Agriculture
Cornell University (January 16)
To make New York agriculture greener, an alumnus-owned farm in Union Springs will become the state’s first commercial dairy to take separated solids from digested cow manure and run it through a kiln to create environmentally friendly biochar – thanks to Cornell expertise and co-funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Biochar, which is similar to charcoal, is made in a kiln from organic residue such as manure. Added to soil, it can retain nutrients, decrease manure storage costs, sequester carbon and reduce odors in the surrounding area. The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is an ESMC Legacy Partner member. Read the full article.
USDA Announces the National Climate Change Roadmap
USDA (December 7)
The National Climate Change Roadmap – A Research Framework for Agriculture, Forestry and Working Lands, funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and led by researchers from Colorado State University and Meridian Institute, was released recently. The science roadmap includes an assessment of the state of climate adaptation research in agriculture, forestry and working lands, along with key needs and gaps. For each gap, the authors identified research questions to address the impacts of climate change on agriculture, food systems, forests, and natural resources, which are aligned with seven themes. USDA is an ESMC funder. Read the full article.
Other News of Note
These State Lawmakers Are Collaborating on Policies that Support Regenerative Agriculture
Civil Eats (January 23)
Progressive state legislators often find themselves in a David-and-Goliath battle against the conventional ag industry. One organization is equipping them with resources to support producers using regenerative practices instead. Read the full article.
France Will Jail Corporate Directors Who Fail to Adhere to New CSRD Requirements
GreenBiz (January 24)
In early 2024, France introduced the potential of jail time for any corporate director who fails to comply with the country’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Specifically, the penalty includes a fine of up to $81,400 and jail time of up to five years. Read the full article.
Increasing Extreme Heat Is Hurting Kansas Farmers’ Bottom Line
EDF (January 17)
Environmental Defense Fund, Cornell University and Kansas State University studied how severe weather financially impacts Kansas farms and how management choices and government programs mitigate the negative impacts. The study used a 40-year Kansas farm financial dataset and historic weather data to measure the impacts of extreme heat on gross and net farm income. Read the full article.
US Farmers Seek a Different Kind of Green Revolution
EDF Vital Signs (January 12)
Some of America’s most productive farmland is under threat. A recent report from Environmental Defense Fund forecasts that staple crops in the U.S. — wheat in Kansas, corn in Iowa and soybeans in Minnesota — may begin to see declines in yields as soon as 2030. Farmers now face twin challenges as they work to nourish a growing population: Remaining productive as the climate changes while also cutting farming’s contribution to global warming. Fortunately, the spirit of innovation that drove the Green Revolution will help with both. Read the full story.
