Tech giant Salesforce is to buy 500,000 rice methane reduction credits from India's Mitti Labs over five years, the companies said on Wednesday.
The credits are generated through activities that encourage rice farmers to let fields dry out during safe windows in the growing cycle, therefore growing more rice while using less water. The practice reduces methane emissions by allowing oxygen back into the soil, limiting the growth of methane-producing microbes.
"We know that superpollutant reduction is one of the best ways to slow near-term warming, and we are committed to directing capital toward high-impact mitigation efforts," Salesforce's director of climate and energy, Jamila Yamani, said.
Mitti is aiming to issue 2mn credits annually by 2028 from its projects in India and southeast Asia.
The firm uses its GeoAI platform developed with support from NASA to provide transparent verification data using high-resolution satellite radar and field-collected ground evidence.
Mitti Labs signed a deal for 1mn credits with Google in September. Salesforce and Google are among the founding members of the Superpollutant Action Initiative, a $100mn fund to accelerate the reduction of superpollutants.
"Having Salesforce join Google in backing rice methane reductions shows that high-integrity, data-verified agricultural credits are becoming a core part of serious climate offsetting strategies," Mitti Labs co-founder Xavier Laguarta said.
