Agreena secures record 4.45 million tonne soil carbon agreement

• Structured over a seven-year period, one of the world’s largest commodity trading houses will buy 4.45Mt of soil carbon credits from Agreena, across a targeted 1.6 million hectares of Kazakh farmland by 2028
• Landmark deal sees the creation of a new VM0042 project currently undergoing Verra validation, supporting farmers in transitioning to regenerative agriculture

Agreena, the leading European soil carbon platform, has announced the largest publicly communicated agreement signed to date in agricultural carbon. The agreement covers 4.45 million tonnes of CO2e in soil carbon credits over seven years. Being among the longest-dated commitments made in a soil carbon project, the deal substantiates regenerative agriculture as a scalable tool for verified climate action.

 Behind the contract is farmland in northern Kazakhstan’s grain belt – Agreena’s 21st market – where the project is targeting 1.6 million hectares under regenerative management by 2028. The region’s Chernozems are among the most carbon-rich soils in Central Asia, and have lost an estimated 28 to 30 per cent of their humus content across decades of conventional farming. Revenue from this deal will support Kazakh farmers in transitioning to regenerative agriculture; rebuilding soil health, stopping soil organic carbon loss and ensuring farms' long-term resilience.

 In the carbon market, spot deals continue to rise in number and size, but buyers needing volume at scale are increasingly contracting years ahead of issuance. To deliver over the full term, these agreements require a new level of sophistication from suppliers. Operating with farmers across approximately five million hectares, and as the developer of the largest agricultural cropland initiative verified under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard, Agreena is built to meet demand across both spot and forward markets.

 “This is a defining moment for Agreena and for the carbon market, as soil carbon cements its role at scale,” said Frederik Aagaard, Chief Commercial Officer at Agreena. “A seven-year agreement provides infrastructure, enabling farmers in Kazakhstan to change how they farm with an economic safety net. A buyer of this scale only commits to those terms when it is confident the supply will be delivered. That assurance rests on the platform behind it: the scientists who design the programme, the dMRV technology that measures it, and the commercial team that brings farmers and buyers to the same table.”

 Long-dated supply matters most to sectors with few alternative routes to decarbonisation. Hard-to-abate industries will need high-integrity credits to account for residual emissions at a scale the existing market has not yet built; agreements contracted years ahead of delivery are how that supply gets created.

 The credits will be generated by AgreenaCarbon Kazakhstan (Verra project ID 6105), which has entered the validation process under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard using methodology VM0042 v2.2 for Improved Agricultural Land Management. It is Agreena’s second Verra project; the company’s flagship AgreenaCarbon Project (Verra project ID 4022) is the largest agricultural cropland initiative to be verified under the standard globally.

 For the farmers involved, the changes are practical before they are climatic. Moving away from conventional tillage saves 40 to 60 litres of diesel per hectare, saving critical costs for the farmer; retained residues hold moisture in a region that receives just 300 to 450mm of rain a year; and ending stubble burning cuts particulate and nitrogen oxide pollution across surrounding rural communities. Reduced soil disturbance and off-season cover crops are expected to have a net positive effect on farmland biodiversity and the surrounding grassland landscape, used by species including the critically endangered Sociable Lapwing and the endangered Steppe Eagle.

 “Soil carbon credits are unique in the value they provide beyond the measurable tonnes of carbon reduced and removed,” Aagaard said. “Co-benefits, including greater biodiversity, improved soil health, and resilience against both drought and flood, are a direct result of protecting soil structure through the pillars of regenerative agriculture.”