(Credit: Pixabay)ProducePay, the marketplace for the global produce industry, has partnered with ALLCOT to create a carbon offset program developed specifically for growers of primary crops. ProducePay’s first-of-its-kind program is tailored for produce growers, who until now have not had the tools to participate in the rapidly growing voluntary carbon market—which is estimated to reach $50 billion by 2030. The carbon offset program is the first component of ProducePay's "Sustainably Sourced" initiative, which, when launched later this year, will be the first ever worldwide sustainable produce supply chain standard created to establish an efficient, profitable, and sustainable fresh produce ecosystem.
A recent feasibility study ProducePay conducted in consultation with ALLCOT to assess the carbon market potential of five produce growers revealed that each grower was well poised to be a future participant in the global carbon market. While voluntary carbon markets have been created for the forestry sector and large securitized crops like wheat and soy in the US, there has never been an understanding of the potential role of the $1.3 trillion global produce sector in helping to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The study, which examined farms in the US and Mexico growing asparagus, grapes, and strawberries, saw that the growers were already performing many of the sustainable agricultural practices needed for decarbonization and ultimately selling verifiable carbon offsets in the international market.
ALLCOT has provided ProducePay with recommendations for helping its small-to-medium growers develop a roadmap for adopting additional infrastructure and carbon-smart practices, such as pressurized irrigation systems, alternative farming inputs, and implementing water desalination technology, to become fully compliant with carbon market practices. ProducePay expects its carbon offset program to be a new service offered to growers in its marketplace later this year. ALLCOT has also ensured that ProducePay’s carbon offset program will meet the rigorous international standards of their carbon verification.
Despite international efforts to reduce GHG emissions, they have more than doubled since the UN Climate Change Convention in 1994. This increase has raised the stakes and given urgency to ProducePay’s feasibility study, which was funded by IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the IDB Group. This funding supports ProducePay’s work to develop and implement internal strategies aligned with the objectives of sustainable development and environmental and social best practices at the international level.
