GSK’s investment in regenerative agriculture carbon credits aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, supporting human health

Earthly has facilitated an eight-year emissions reduction purchase agreement with global biopharma company GSK and carbon removal developer Varaha. The project will expand regenerative agriculture practices in northern India, aiming to lower greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution and increase carbon storage in agricultural soils, whilst delivering wider health and local community benefits.

Every year, when the rice harvest ends in the states of Punjab and Haryana, tens of thousands of farmers burn leftover crop residue. Often, they face limited alternatives: the window between harvest and the next planting season is short, labour can be expensive, and equipment required for sustainable residue management is often unaffordable for smallholder families.

Crop residue burning is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, releasing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. But the impact extends beyond climate change. Air pollution is a major issue in South Asia, linked to approximately

2 million premature deaths annually

across the region, and the practice of crop residue burning is a significant seasonal contributor. The fine particulate matter (PM2.5) it releases is one of the most dangerous air pollutants because particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream. They can also travel hundreds of miles, contributing to smoke in cities across the Indo-Gangetic Plain for weeks. 

Air quality challenges caused by crop residue burning pose a direct concern to human health. Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter can exacerbate cardiovascular conditions, respiratory illness and contribute to premature mortality.

By replacing traditional crop residue burning with regenerative practices that return crop residues to the soil, farmers can reduce emissions while helping agricultural soils to store more carbon.

Varaha's

regenerative agriculture project

transitions smallholder farmers away from conventional agricultural practices (residue burning, intensive tillage, flood-irrigated rice transplanting) toward regenerative alternatives: Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), reduced tillage, and crop residue incorporation into the soil.

The farmers receive subsidised access to machinery and a share of carbon credit revenue generated by this agricultural practice change, removing the financial logic that has historically made burning rational. This also benefits farmers due to higher yields, better soil structure, water retention, and less spending on chemical fertiliser. Carbon finance enables this transition, with farmers’ household income increasing by an average of 12-16% since participating in the project.

In the first monitoring period of the project, across an area of 42,000 hectares, the project has so far avoided 4,574 tonnes of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) being released into the air through burning, and saved approximately 59.5 billion litres of water.

GSK’s investment will expand the project across 50,000 hectares of smallholder farmland in the states of Punjab and Haryana.

This emissions reduction purchase agreement aims to deliver verified carbon benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased storage of carbon in agricultural soils. It also aims to deliver nature and health co-benefits, including improved air quality through reducing PM2.5 emissions, lowering participating farms’ water usage, and supporting local communities by increasing income for thousands of farming families.

The programme’s credits are structured for long-term delivery through to 2034, with quarterly reporting built into the agreement across carbon, water, farmer income, and community engagement outcomes.

The project is certified under

Verra's Verified Carbon Standard

using methodology VM0042 for improved agricultural land management. As part of this agreement, the project is upgrading to VM0042 v2.2, which is already approved under the

ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles

, so future issuances qualify for the CCP label. Every tonne of CO2 removed is quantified using remote sensing and machine learning-based monitoring and independently verified.

GSK has set a clear pathway to net zero impact on climate, recognising this as fundamental to its business resilience by enabling continuity of its supply chains, optimising its operations, and ensuring its ability to meet patient and customer needs. This is also deeply connected to GSK’s purpose of improving human health, as climate change increasingly impacts the spread and burden of disease and places pressure on healthcare systems.

Whilst GSK is focused on emissions reductions to meet its carbon related targets, it is also investing in high-quality nature and restoration projects that support its net-zero and nature-positive goals and deliver co-benefits to human health. By 2030, GSK aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% (from a 2020 baseline) with the remainder covered through investment in high-quality nature-based solutions.

The project aims to deliver around 100,000 tonnes of removal credits annually between 2028 and 2033, covering approximately 7% of GSK’s forecasted residual emissions based on its current carbon reduction glidepaths.

When choosing carbon credit investments, GSK prioritises projects for the long term and ensures the design includes co-benefits for health, nature and local communities. In partnership with Pollination, and with input from key nature and health experts, GSK published an

open-source toolkit

that sets out best practice for companies, investors and developers to incorporate health considerations in the design of nature-based projects.

GSK is engaging with the voluntary carbon market and will retire its first credits in 2030, five years earlier than the proposed minimum mandatory requirement of Version 2 of the Science Based Target Initiative’s Net Zero Standard. By investing in projects early and at scale, GSK is creating demand signals to help build the supply of high-quality, high-integrity carbon credits, with important health co-benefits.

In addition to carbon registry verification, Earthly added a layer of independent due diligence by assessing the project through the

Keystone 3.0 methodology.

The project’s maturity, impact and quality of evidence is evaluated to produce scores across carbon, biodiversity and people pillars. Less than 9% of nature projects pass the Keystone 3.0 assessment which helps businesses like GSK de-risk their nature and climate strategy with confidence.

Varaha

is Asia's largest carbon removal developer, ranking second globally for delivered durable CDR volume. Varaha is the only developer worldwide to have delivered credits across four removal pathways: regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, biochar and enhanced rock weathering. Varaha works with a network of more than 200,000 smallholder farmers in India.

GSK

is a global biopharma company committed to uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease. GSK is committed to a net zero, nature positive, healthier planet, with ambitious goals set for 2030 and 2045.

Earthly

is nature-risk infrastructure for enterprises. Less than 9% of projects pass our Keystone 3.0 project assessment - leaving only credits that survive TNFD, CSRD and board-level scrutiny.

What is an emissions reduction purchase agreement and how does it work?

An Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement, or ERPA, is a long-term contract between a corporate buyer and a project developer, in which the buyer commits to purchasing a set volume of certified carbon credits over a defined period. In this case, Earthly structured the agreement between GSK and Varaha, establishing the commercial terms, verification requirements, and reporting obligations. 

How are the carbon credits in this project verified?

The project is certified under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), using the VM0042 methodology for agricultural land management. Every tonne claimed is independently audited by a third-party Verra-approved verification body. The project also uses remote sensing and machine learning-based monitoring to track practice change at field level across 50,000 hectares. The project is listed on the Verra registry under ID 3346 and is targeting the ICVCM's Core Carbon Principles (CCP) Label - the market's highest integrity benchmark.

How does farmer income factor into this project?

In the first monitoring period, participating households saw a 12-16% increase in average income. This increase stems from a combination of increasing yields, decreasing fertiliser costs and the farmers’ share of the carbon revenues. The combination of implementation and financial support allows the farmer to transition to regenerative agriculture and improve their livelihoods.