The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has officially approved the first two sustainable agriculture methodologies to receive its Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label. This milestone represents a significant step in expanding high-integrity carbon credits to the agricultural sector.
These methodologies, Climate Action Reserve’s U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol (SEP) Version 1.1 and Verra’s VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management Version 2.2, represent a new category of approaches focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and improving soil organic carbon (SOC) through enhanced agricultural practices. Their approval underscores the growing recognition of agriculture’s critical role in mitigating climate change while supporting farmers’ economic viability through access to carbon finance.
The sustainable agriculture category covers a wide range of practices that are designed to improve soil health and carbon storage, as well as optimized fertilizer, residue management, crop rotation, improved grazing systems and better water or irrigation management.
Climate Action Reserve’s - U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol v1.1
The U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol (SEP) v1.1, developed by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), provides guidance for developing, monitoring, and verifying agricultural projects that enhance soil carbon storage and reduce GHG emissions. The protocol includes practices such as conservation cultivation, crop diversification, improved water management, fertilizer optimization, and the use of soil amendments. These approaches not only mitigate climate impacts but also improve soil and ecosystem health, enhance resilience to climate extremes, and reduce air and water pollution.
To qualify for the CCP label, projects applying the CAR U.S. Soil Enrichment Protocol must meet two specific conditions set by the ICVCM:
- A Project Implementation Agreement (PIA) must be in place, ensuring a minimum 40-year permanence commitment to the project; and,
- The sustainable agriculture practices used must not include rotational and/or intensive grazing.
Only projects meeting both criteria are eligible for CCP approval under this protocol. The ICVCM’s governing board confirmed that SEP v1.1 meets its standards for additionality, permanence, robust quantification, no double counting, sustainable development benefits, and contribution to the net-zero transition, reaffirming its integrity and transparency.
The methodology has already been implemented across U.S. farmlands. To date, around one million carbon credits have been issued through SEP projects covering 1.55 million acres across 28 states, collectively reducing approximately 999,000 metric tons of GHG. Two major projects are currently registered under SEP v1.1 and are expected to issue more than one million credits annually. Robin Rix, President of the Climate Action Reserve, stated that ICVCM’s approval “affirms that agricultural climate solutions are credible, resilient, and able to withstand rigorous scrutiny”.
Verra’s Improved Agricultural Land Management Methodology v2.2
The second methodology, VM0042 Improved Agricultural Land Management v2.2, developed by Verra under its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), has also been approved for the CCP label. This methodology quantifies GHG emission reductions and SOC removals from regenerative agriculture, including reduced tillage, optimized fertilizer and residue management, diversified cropping systems, improved water use, and effective grazing management. It enables farmers to earn verified carbon credits for sustainable land management practices.
To be eligible for CCP labeling, projects using VM0042 v2.2 must follow these condition:
- Soil Organic Carbon must be measured using any approved technique under the methodology, except for Digital Soil Mapping (DSM), which has not yet been assessed by the ICVCM.
While the newly approved version (v2.2) has not yet registered projects or issued credits, it builds on previous versions that have been implemented. Approximately 200 projects are currently listed in the Verra Registry under earlier iterations of VM0042, with the potential to generate 126 million tonnes of emission reductions and removals annually. Projects using prior versions may upgrade to v2.2 to qualify for CCP labeling, reinforcing market integrity and confidence.
According to Mandy Rambharos, Verra’s Chief Executive Officer, the ICVCM’s decision “ensures that carbon markets recognize innovation and reward leadership,” and call it “an important milestone for farmers and project developers leading the shift toward regenerative agriculture.” Verra also highlighted its digital transformation, by having already released a digital version of VM0042 v2.1 through the Verra Project Hub, and a digital version of v2.2 expected soon. This upgrade will streamline project submission, validation, and verification, enabling faster registration and more transparent data management, aligning with ICVCM’s goals of scaling the market with integrity and impact.
A Groundbreaking Milestone for Agricultural Carbon Markets
By approving CAR SEP v1.1 and Verra VM0042 v2.2, the ICVCM has enabled agriculture to play a larger role in the voluntary carbon market. Both methodologies demonstrate that climate-smart agriculture can deliver credible, verifiable emission reductions while driving sustainable development and resilience across farming systems worldwide.