Verifying agriculture emissions reductions and removals with Agreena

Regenerative agriculture practices have emerged as a powerful way to address agriculture emissions by implementing change at the farm level. But because agricultural value chains are complex and fragmented, scaling these practices requires collaboration across the value chain. Farmers implementing regenerative practices need investment and long-term support, while downstream buyers are looking for credible ways to reduce their Scope 3 emissions and make progress toward climate targets.

SustainCERT validated Agreena’s Scope 3 Project and verified its outcomes, leading to the issuance of 10,964 Verified Impact Units representing emissions reductions and removals from regenerative agriculture practices across Hungary, Poland and the UK.

The Impact Units can be transferred or attributed to partners across the value chain, creating a mechanism for companies to invest in regenerative agriculture at farm level while using independently verified outcomes to support Scope 3 accounting and reporting.

By demonstrating that agriculture emissions reductions and removals can be independently quantified, verified and managed across complex value chains, Agreena’s Scope 3 Project provides a practical model for scaling collaborative decarbonization. Approaches like this will become increasingly important as companies prepare for implementation of the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard (LSRS).

Agreena’s Scope 3 Project

Agreena is a European soil carbon project developer and platform that works with farmers to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture, through the voluntary carbon market as well as supply chain solutions. Agreena’s Scope 3 solutions enable food and agriculture companies to decarbonize their supply chains and reduce Scope 3 emissions in a credible way.

Agreena’s Scope 3 Project quantifies emission reductions and removals generated by farmers adopting regenerative farming practices within agricultural supply chains. The project has been built on Verra’s VM0042 methodology and can be used by companies to account for decarbonization within their own value chains thanks to SustainCERT’s independent validation and verification of the Scope 3 approach.

Agreena helps farmers implement regenerative practices that restore soil health and increase carbon storage across crops like wheat, maize, oilseed rape, and sunflower.

Regenerative practices in the program include:

• Cover cropping: Planting cover crops between harvests helps protect and enrich the soil.
• Reduced tillage: Minimizing soil disturbance prevents the release of stored carbon.
• Residue management or mulching: Leaving crop residues on the field or applying organic mulch protects the soil, conserves moisture and boosts carbon retention.
• Reduced use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer: Replacing chemicals with organic matter builds topsoil, maintains soil health and supports biodiversity.

The program is part of Agreena’s broader operations across five million hectares, working with around 2,500 farmers transitioning within its carbon programs across more than 20 countries.

What challenges are addressed by Scope 3 validation and verification?

Before working with SustainCERT, Agreena faced an accounting challenge that sat outside of its original carbon credit remit: carbon credits cannot be utilized to account for Scope 3 emissions under the Science Based Targets initiative. Food and agriculture companies wanted to support regenerative agriculture within their supply chains while making use of Agreena’s existing approach to measuring, verifying and allocating climate impacts.

This created a need for a Scope 3-focused solution that could translate farm-level emissions reductions and removals into credible outcomes for value chain decarbonization. SustainCERT’s independent validation and verification helped unlock a rigorous mechanism for issuing traceable, auditable Impact Units that can support Scope 3 accounting and reporting.

Verified results to tackle agriculture emissions

SustainCERT independently validated Agreena’s project design, with a particular focus on interventions. This comprehensive external scrutiny reinforced the integrity of the data model and MRV system, confirming that the way outcomes are quantified, attributed and safeguarded is appropriate for value chain climate accounting and corporate claims.

Following validation, SustainCERT verified the project’s agriculture emissions reductions and removals, leading to the issuance of 10,964 Verified Impact Units. These include the first agricultural IUs issued in Hungary and Poland, setting a precedent for value chain climate accounting in these markets.

The validation and verification process gives corporate partners greater confidence to invest in regenerative agriculture, improving value chain resilience while securing independently verified climate outcomes that can support their Scope 3 reporting.

Outcomes from the Scope 3 Project:

• 10,964 Verified Impact Units Issued
• 3,940 tonnes of CO2 emission reductions and 7,024 tonnes of CO2 removals delivered through regenerative farming
• 6,518 hectares covered in Hungary, Poland and the UK

Credible climate action in the value chain

The validation and verification process has unlocked a more transparent and collaborative model for agricultural decarbonization. Farmers, suppliers and downstream brands can work together around a shared, independently verified impact framework. For Agreena, this has opened the door to conversations with major supply chain players and will become increasingly valuable as the LSRS comes into play in 2027.

Credibility and trust are at the core of Agreena’s work, making independent assurance crucial for demonstrating climate impact. SustainCERT verification creates a common reference point that all stakeholders can trust – from farmers and cooperatives to brands, auditors, and civil society.

“Agreena has built the largest verified soil carbon programs globally. Whether a company needs compliance-ready carbon credits or Verified Impact Units for their supply chain, we have the verification credentials, the pioneering technology, and the farmer network to deliver. SustainCERT verification provides further confidence to corporates in the credibility of soil carbon as a climate tool and demonstrates our rigorous approach across multiple frameworks."
- Simon Haldrup, CEO of Agreena

Scaling soil-based climate solutions

Looking ahead, SustainCERT’s validation and verification of Agreena’s Scope 3 Project is an important foundation for scaling regenerative agriculture within global food and agriculture value chains. It demonstrates that soil‑based climate solutions can be measured and managed with rigor, helping make regenerative farming a scalable and financeable decarbonization strategy for corporates and farmers alike.

The next step is scale. By bringing more corporate investment into verified regenerative agriculture programs, Agreena can expand farm-level action while helping companies make credible progress toward their Scope 3 climate targets.