Carbon registry Isometric has announced the formal certification of its Improved Soil Management Protocol, establishing a new scientific framework for certifying carbon removal from agricultural lands. As the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir on Earth, soil holds nearly 3 trillion tonnes of carbon—approximately three times the amount found in the atmosphere. The company noted that improved management of croplands and grasslands has the potential to sequester up to 430 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, an amount exceeding the total yearly greenhouse gas emissions of the United Kingdom.
The new protocol dictates the precise methodologies required to measure, certify, and monitor carbon removal and reduction derived from enhanced land management. Under the new rules, project developers must measure carbon removal through direct soil sampling, which can be utilised either independently or alongside validated environmental modelling systems. Crucially, projects must account for all associated greenhouse gas emissions and adhere to strict environmental and social safeguards, including a mandatory minimum 20% revenue share for enrolled landowners.
To streamline implementation, Isometric is deploying its digital certification platform, Certify. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence agents to work alongside project developers and independent third-party verifiers. The AI system handles data-intensive compliance tasks, with the aim of making the verification process faster and more accurate.
Three major agricultural project developers have already registered to generate carbon removal certificates under the new framework:
- Great Yellow: The company is managing landscape regeneration across more than 300,000 hectares in the UK.
- Cultivo: The developer has contracted over 600,000 hectares of US grasslands and secured a $100 million financing partnership with Octopus Energy Generation to fund its projects.
- HGX: The organisation is collaborating with more than 1,000 farmers to restore soil health across 3 million acres of US farmland.
Stacy Kauk, Chief Science Officer of Isometric, stated that quality and trust are essential to unlocking the massive climate potential of soil, noting that raising the bar for soil carbon will help drive buyer demand and corporate investment.
Ed Dick, Chief Executive of Great Yellow, acknowledged that buyers have previously been cautious due to inconsistent standards, adding that the new protocol allows developers to bring credible soil carbon credits to market quickly. Dr Manuel Piñuela, Chief Executive and Co-Founder of Cultivo, highlighted that the framework provides a vital trust layer for corporate offsetting and supply chain insetting. Radhika Moolgavkar, Vice President of Product at HGX, added that the scientific rigor of the new approach will help demonstrate that soil can serve as a highly scalable global climate solution.
