Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/26/21

There’s a gold rush in agricultural carbon markets, but there isn’t agreement on what, exactly, makes a carbon credit legit, per a new report out later today from the Environmental Defense Fund and the Woodwell Climate Research Center, our Helena Bottemiller Evich reports.

First look in MA: The report reviewed a dozen published protocols, which are essentially nongovernmental standards that stipulate how to measure and generate a carbon credit that can be verified and sold to an interested buyer.

Treasure or trash: Today, there is considerable variation in how these protocols define carbon credits and there’s an intense debate among scientists and others about which are rigorous and which are, frankly, not trustworthy.

“It’s a very contentious space right now,” said Emily Oldfield, lead author of the report and an agricultural soil carbon scientist at EDF, in an interview.

A call to standardize: Green groups are calling for USDA to set standards so there’s more clarity in the rapidly changing market.

“There’s a lot of variation and we need USDA to step into that role,” said Callie Eideberg, director of agricultural policy for EDF.
Eideberg predicted USDA would probably not take action in this space until closer to the end of this year, or early 2022. What role the department will ultimately play is “anybody’s guess,” she said.

Checking the field: EDF is a founding member of the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance, a broad coalition that supports the Growing Climate Solutions Act. That bill does not go quite as far as calling for USDA to set standards, but directs the department to set up a verification program for technical assistance providers and third party verifiers.

Asked if there broad agreement within FACA that USDA should dive in to set standards, Eideberg replied: “There’s recognition of needing a referee on the field.”