Feed the world while saving the planet

2030 – the target for meeting Paris Agreement climate goals and avoiding a critical tipping point – is no longer the comfortably futuristic date by which a vast array of decarbonisation technologies would be installed. Much like the utopian promises of flying cars of the past, the brutal realities of collective inertia have all but quashed our technology-inspired daydreams. Yet this time, the consequences are existential.

It was once a conveniently hazy milestone to which governments and large corporations had pinned their plans for action. Yet with five years left until 2030, the imperative to act is now weighing on the minds of the new crop of CEOs and CSOs, to whom their predecessors bequeathed these objectives, anaemic budgets and a suboptimal sense of urgency.

How do we catch up? The inconvenient truth is that the answer is everything, everywhere, all at once. But instead of waiting for the flux capacitator to be invented, we must lay trust in the soothing embrace of Mother Nature. We need to quite literally harness the planet.

The time is now for investments in regenerative agriculture: a nature-based solution that brings immediate, scalable and affordable impact on climate, biodiversity and our communities.

Nature can provide around 40 per cent of greenhouse gas reductions needed by 2030, with agriculture projects capable of reducing and removing more than four gigatons of emissions every year. The economic value is impressive: restoring degraded soils could generate $1.4 trillion per year in “ecosystem services”, an unfamiliar term describing a long list of priceless contributions that are critical to our survival, such as carbon sequestration, water regulation, flood protection, air cleansing and biodiversity conservation.

While the contribution of forests, mangroves and wetlands have long been lauded as valuable climate solutions, we underestimated the power of our soils. Covering about 40 per cent of the earth’s landmass, soil’s ability to suck carbon from the atmosphere while producing nutritious crops and sustaining thriving rural communities makes it a unique climate solution. It’s the ultimate climate “two-fer”: feed the world and save the planet.

Founded in Boston in 2013, Indigo Ag has aggregated deep knowledge and understanding of soil carbon, microbiology and ecology and has invested millions in technology to rigorously quantify the reductions and removals of GHG and impacts on the other ecosystem services.

Deeply conscious that integrity forms the bedrock of any scalable solution, Indigo has invited engagement on its science and approach, obtaining academic peer review in publications including the Journal of Environmental Management. This science powers an industry-leading engine for monitoring, reporting and independently verifying impact on climate, water and biodiversity, achieved through regenerative farming.

Regenerative farming practices were well-known to our ancestors and indigenous communities who worked the land harmoniously with nature for millennia. We’re literally going back to the future to maximise the carbon-sequestering power of photosynthesis – the ultimate scalable and affordable technology – and minimise soil disturbance so that carbon remains to nourish microbes and fuel other biological processes.

The impact of practices such as minimum tillage, cover cropping and crop rotation is quantified and packaged into high-quality “environmental attributes” for climate-conscious investment. Farmers working with Indigo have already generated around 300,000 high-integrity carbon credits, and helped corporations claim emissions reductions in their supply chains.

To date, Indigo is the only agriculture-based carbon program to have repeatedly generated registry-issued credits at scale, expanding its impact year-on-year. With the fourth “carbon crop” expected soon, Indigo has established a new, predictable and durable revenue stream for US farmers, who have enrolled more than 7 million acres in the program. As the program matures, some farmers are expected to receive over $100,000 in incremental income, with a path to substantially more in the future.

The market is also evolving and growing fast, with some of the world’s most respected organisations, including Microsoft, Bank of America and Shopify, making these pioneering investments in agriculture as a climate removal solution. Growing demand is also reflected in pricing – initially sold at $15/credit in 2019, Indigo is seeing offers for $60-80 per credit, with the $100 catalytic price point in sight.

Making these investments does not absolve these companies of the responsibility to reduce their own emissions but they offer a critical tool for companies to accelerate climate action. Recent data also indicates that those companies investing in carbon credits are twice as likely to be decarbonising their own operations and investing three times more to reduce emissions compared with those corporations who keep their heads down, likely dreaming of those flying cars.

Getting started seems challenging: the best of intentions can easily be neutered in the face of complex science, unfamiliar acronyms and frustrating organisational headwinds. Where to invest first, and why?

More action is needed, but there is frenetic activity in the corridors, and a recognition of the collaboration needed to make real systemic changes. Those leaning in are understanding the importance of data integrity, policy and science-based solutions that drive durable change.

The same quantification engine powering carbon credits also helps corporations reduce Scope 3 emissions. Now in its sixth year, Indigo’s Sustainable Sourcing program has delivered verified, low carbon crops and saved over 21 billion gallons of water through partnering with major food, feed, fuel and fibre companies.

Together, these actions have returned millions of dollars to farmers from private sources – entirely independent from government coffers – providing a real, market-based revenue stream that rewards farmers for the ecosystem services they provide, without compromising the world’s food supply.

There are also important economic and ecological benefits for the farm: for every percentage increase in soil organic carbon, an incremental 25,000 gallons of water can be retained on the acre; operating costs also tend to reduce as need for synthetic fertiliser and agrochemicals falls.

The technology is here, the science is proven and there is a compelling business model: agriculture stands on the giddy precipice of transitioning from carbon source to planetary carbon sink. Yet it still requires corporate leadership to enable this nature-positive solution to

really gain scale. It’s a vision of the future that is deeply familiar, accessible and requires far less reliance on sky-bound DeLoreans.

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