Building a Scalable Program in the Face of Evolving Standards: How I learned to Love Uncertainty

READ TIME: 3 minutes
By: Jeff Seale, Ph.D., Ag Climate Standards Lead

When I think back to the very early days of when the ag sector started to think about greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, I fondly remember the “wild west” nature of building something with few guardrails. We were left to figure out how principles such as permanence and additionality, originally developed in  sectors such as forestry, translated to an entirely new, complex, and dynamic system like a farm. Calling it the “early days” makes it sound like ancient history, but it was just eight short years ago.

Fast forward to today. Two large framework standards exist within the food and agriculture sector. The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) Forest Land and Agriculture Guidance (FLAG) supports companies with significant emissions from land management activities in setting realistic targets and methods for tracking progress. In a few short months, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) will release the Land Sector Removals Standard (LSRS), which will be the gold standard for the measurement, accounting, and reporting of GHG emissions and removals within the agricultural and food sector. Together, both of these frameworks will have a major positive impact on driving down GHG emissions while helping to create a resilient food production system.

In the early days, GHG reporting was largely voluntary for our sector. Today, however, it is quickly becoming a regulatory requirement as evidenced by the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the state of California’s recently enacted law for its Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. These new regulations require more rigor in measuring emissions and more transparent accounting. Rigor and transparency are critical pillars to credible GHG mitigation programs and should be welcomed as essential steps toward meaningful climate action.

In eight years we have new guidance, new standards, and new mandatory regulatory requirements in place. Problem solved, right? Not so fast. While these new standards have mostly tamed the “wild west” of the early days, they have not yet solved all of the challenges.In fact, they have created confusion and uncertainty for those looking to build scalable programs with positive impact. Good guidance is not overly prescriptive. There is no “one size fits all” in a sector as diverse as agriculture. However,  in a world where no company wants to end up on the front page accused of greenwashing, the mantra becomes, “just tell me what to do to be compliant so that I don’t get sued”. 

How do you build a credible program amid confusing, ambiguous, and rapidly evolving standards?

Don’t let uncertainty stall progress. Despite the complexity, credible action is possible and increasingly expected. Here’s where to begin:

• Start with the best data available – Across all emerging guidance, one thing is clear: generic emissions factors are no longer sufficient. Programs must rely on primary data sourced directly from the farms where commodities are produced.
• Recognize that data quality is foundational – In today’s climate accountability landscape, the credibility of any program starts with the accuracy and level of fidelity of the data it uses.
• Ensure full transparency in accounting and reporting – clear documentation of methods and assumptions is essential to defend claims and build trust.
• Prepare for challenges in traceability and chain of custody – Supply chains in food and agriculture are complex and often difficult to track. While perfect tracking may be unrealistic, it should not paralyze progress.
• Align with the spirit of the guidance and disclose how – Even when standards are evolving or incomplete, a credible program makes its assumptions visible. Transparency can encourage reviewers, buyers, and program participants that outcomes are credible representations of what has happened on the ground. 

That being said, building a scalable GHG emissions reduction program for food and agriculture companies is more than  a checklist of requirements needed to fulfill some reporting requirements and avoid a lawsuit. In a world where we are rapidly exceeding the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C, reducing emissions and removing CO2 from the atmosphere is a requirement for creating a resilient food system that will feed the eight billion people who currently live on this warming planet. We need to continue to create meaningful change. If we do not help farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change, our businesses will fail when they fail. This work is critical for our survival.

While there is still much uncertainty in how the standards will continue to evolve to help meet the goals of limiting planetary warming, it is clear that we are moving to higher data quality and greater transparency. At HabiTerre, with a team of subject-matter experts, we provide advanced data, modeling, and systems insights with full transparency that will allow you to build a credible, scalable program. In spite of all of the uncertainty, we are pushing ahead with the technology needed to help create a resilient supply chain for you and the planet.

About Jeff:

Dr. Jeffrey Seale is the Ag Climate Standards Lead at HabiTerre. Having worked in the fields of biochemistry and biophysics for more than 30 years, Dr. Seale has used his expertise to help develop innovations that improve the sustainability of agricultural systems. Currently, Jeff is working to develop market solutions and policy frameworks to accelerate the removal of greenhouse gas emissions in ag. Through achievements in science, policy, and advocacy, Dr. Seale is working to bring the goal of a more sustainable world to reality. He has been awarded 4 U.S. patents and is the author of 10 peer-reviewed publications and 2 book chapters. Jeff has been an invited speaker at the annual United Nations Climate Conference and has served as an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.