Removing Carbon under the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard: A Rigorous Approach to Climate Change Mitigation
If you’re like me, working day-to-day in the carbon removal market, you understand that standards are a crucial part of this industry. They provide the framework that ensures our efforts are effective, accountable, and truly beneficial for our planet. However, keeping up with the complexity of these documents and the ongoing advancements in the field can be a daunting task. That’s why I’ve taken the time to delve into one such standard — the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard — and highlight the key points that we all need to understand. This rigorous and comprehensive approach to carbon removal is making waves in the industry, and in this blog post, I aim to shed light on its principles, its impact, and why it makes sense for the buyers market to invest in carbon removal managed by smallholder farmers.
Understanding the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard
The Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard, developed by the Ithaka Institute in 2022 in conjunction with Biochar Life, is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at carbon removal. The geographical scope of the standard is limited to Low-Income, Lower Middle Income, and Higher Middle Income countries, as defined by the World Bank classification of countries. This focus on economically disadvantaged regions not only contributes to climate change mitigation but also supports local economies and communities.
The Global Artisan Carbon Sink certification system consists of a tripartite structure: the biochar producer, the C-sink manager, and the international accrediting agent and certifier. Each plays a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of the carbon removal process. The biochar producer is responsible for the actual production of biochar, while the C-sink manager oversees the process and ensures compliance with the standard. The international accrediting agent and certifier, on the other hand, provides oversight and ensures the credibility of the certification process.
The certification principles of the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard are rigorous and comprehensive. All emissions occurring due to biomass sourcing, biochar production, and application must be accounted for and adequately compensated by carbon sinks. This ensures that the process is not only carbon-neutral but also contributes to a net reduction in atmospheric carbon.
The Concept of Additionality
The Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard is designed to provide a decisive monetary incentive and knowledge transfer to produce climate-positive biochar and thus carbon sinks. This is achieved through the concept of additionality, which ensures that the carbon removal activities would not have occurred without the certification system. The C-Sink Manager provides training on biochar production and the preparation and application of biochar-based fertilizers. This not only enables the production of climate-positive biochar but also empowers local farmers with the knowledge and skills to contribute to climate change mitigation.
The concept of additionality also extends to the exclusivity of the certification. Farmers and biochar producers benefiting from Global Artisan C-Sink are not allowed to be certified under any other methodology for nature-based climate services. This exclusivity is assessed and controlled by the C-Sink Manager to avoid double counting of carbon removals.
This not only enables the production of climate-positive biochar but also empowers local farmers with the knowledge and skills to contribute to climate change mitigation while improving their crop yields via the biochar fertilizer.
Bio-based carbon removal in the tropics and subtropics is by far the most efficient climate technology. We, therefore, need standards enabling farmers in the global South to participate in the global carbon sink economy. The Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard goes beyond carbon removal; it’s empowering local communities, supporting sustainable development, and creating a future where both humanity and the planet can thrive. — Hans-Peter Schmidt, the head of the Ithaka Institute for Carbon Strategies.
The standard also acknowledges the potential for double accounting with other nature-based solutions like afforestation or reforestation programs. To prevent this, explicit registration of all cultivated land is required. This comprehensive approach to additionality ensures that the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard contributes to genuine and verifiable carbon removal, making it a valuable tool for climate change mitigation.
Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification
The Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard places a strong emphasis on stringent monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) to ensure the integrity and credibility of the carbon removal process. This is achieved through a dedicated smartphone application provided, which automates data exchange and centralizes the carbon registration. The main database and backbone for the Artisan App is provided by Carbon Standard International to automate data exchange and centralize the carbon registration. C-sink managers are able to design their own applications for data collection though PlantVillage will also soon be launching a biochar tracking app as part of their existing Nuru platform.
Artisan biochar producers capture crucial data such as GPS coordinates of biomass origin, biochar production and soil application sites, crop rotation and harvest data, and quantification of biomass residues used for biochar making. For Artisan Pro biochar producers with a production capacity of more than 100 m3 per year, the C-Sink Manager must conduct an annual on-site inspection. This includes verifying the data declaration in the smartphone app, checking the supply chain of the biomass feedstock, inspecting at least one Kon-Tiki production per year, and controlling the tracking of the biochar from the production facility to soil, to the trader, and/or to the incorporation into a matrix that cannot be burnt. The C-Sink Manager is responsible for the monitoring of individual C-Sink Farmers and must assure with measures that go beyond the declaration in the app that the C-sinks declared by the participating C-sink farmers were set-up in the declared quality and quantity. Various control methods such as triad peer groups, farmer leaders, or independent inspections can be applied to improve the data quality.
This rigorous MRV process ensures transparency and accountability in the carbon removal process, making the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard a trustworthy and reliable approach to carbon removal.
Case Study: Biochar Life’s Carbon Village Pilot and the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard
A compelling example of the implementation of the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard is our work at Biochar Life. We partner with smallholder farmers in the developing world to turn crop waste into carbon-sequestering biochar, following the principles of the standard.
In the first quarter of 2023, our smallholder farmer teams in Kenya, Malawi, and Thailand hit a new milestone by completing a 3,000-tonne carbon sink order a month ahead of schedule. This achievement was made possible by the rigorous training and support provided under the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard, which enabled our teams to effectively produce and apply biochar.
Key highlights of this accomplishment include:
- Over 3,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (net-sink) has been sequestered for over 100+ years, demonstrating the effectiveness of the standard in achieving significant carbon removal.
- 1,600 tonnes of biochar-based fertilizer was applied in farmer fields, improving crop yields and food security for farmer families and communities. This aligns with the standard’s focus on supporting local economies and communities.
- $254,000 USD was distributed to farmers and local teams from the sales of carbon offset credit proceeds, providing a tangible monetary incentive for carbon removal.
This case study illustrates the significant impact smallholder farmers can have on carbon sequestration and the fight against climate change when supported by a rigorous and comprehensive standard like the Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard.
Concluding thoughts
The Global Artisan Carbon Sink Standard offers a rigorous and comprehensive approach to carbon removal. Its focus on smallholder farmers in economically disadvantaged regions ensures that it not only contributes to climate change mitigation but also supports local economies and communities.
The standard’s stringent monitoring, reporting, and verification process ensures the integrity and credibility of the carbon removal process. By investing in carbon removal under this standard, the buyers market can contribute to climate change mitigation while also supporting sustainable development.
If you’d like more more information on how Biochar Life are working with smallholder farmers, get in touch for your free concept paper: hello@biochar.life
