Welcome!
Day One: Deep Dives
17 September 2020
10 AM - 12 PM EDT
(4 PM - 6 PM CEST)

10:00 – 10:05 Welcome and introduction – Nkulumo Zinyengere, World Bank
10:05 – 10:15
Summary of web seminar results – Ciniro Costa Jr, CCAFS
Facilitator plan for “virtual table” deep dive discussions – Tim Mealey, Meridian Institute
10:15 – 10:25 Finance community needs – Chandra Shekhar Sinha, World Bank
10:25 – 11:10
Deep dives into soil carbon accounting for investment needs
Tables discuss and present emerging best accounting practices for each topic area and what is
needed to make these useable by finance for carbon accounting: low cost, low uncertainty and
reliable SOC accounting.
Output: notes taken within this platform
1. Summary of state-of-the-art practice;
2. Applicability of methods to finance sector or adjustments needed;
3. Recommendations to address issues.
Table 1 – Measurement
Table 2 – Accounting Design
11:10 – 11:25 Break
11:25 – 11:35 Tables present their outputs (up to 5 minutes per table)
11:35 – 11:55 Discussion
11:55 – 12:00 Closing remarks – Lini Wollenberg, CCAFS
Day One: Deep Dives Agenda

Summary of webinar seminar results
Session 1 - The need for soil carbon accounting
Session 2 – Soil carbon accounting frontiers

ACTIONS
To make it more practical and viable:
• Integrated approaches for measurement-modeling-activity data
• Focus on a few high quality direct measurements
• Reduce uncertainty of models
• Enhance capability to incorporate farm-level activity data
Summary of webinar seminar results
Financial community need:
• Standardized, accurate and low-cost approach to soil C accounting:
• “Low-cost estimates with low bias and ‘moderate’ uncertainty at
‘project’ scale”
To ensure integrity:
• Accounting infrastructure and program
• verification processes
• discounts, buffers, blockchain
• risk of permanence

Enhancing investment in soil health and
carbon storage: Frontiers for linking
finance and carbon accounting
September 17, 2020
Soil Organic Carbon:
Finance Community Needs
Chandra Shekhar Sinha
Adviser, Climate Change Group
World Bank.
csinha@worldbank.org

As of April 1, 2020, 110 countries are considering
a net zero climate target, of which…
Carbon pricing is necessary but not sufficient
to achieve the net zero climate goals…
Source: World Bank, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing, 2020

CDM
Source: World Bank, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing, 2020

Cumulative carbon offset issuances, sectors and regions

9
Voluntary offset market buyers have expectations and concerns
Positive story
with great
case studies,
photos and
videos
Innovation
and
uniqueness
Best practice
projects with
robust results
Value for
money
Buyer
Wants
Reputational
risks
Lack of
delivery
Accusation
of greenwash
Stakeholder
criticism
Buyer
Fears

10
Investors interest in Soil Organic Carbon as Offsets/ Insets
Buyers/ investors in the carbon
markets are looking for:
• Credibility of reductions/ removals
• Contribution to the level of
ambition of the Paris Agreement
goals
• Consistency with long-term
climate strategy
• Clear economic impact at the local
level and contribution to
sustainable development
• Level of ambition in the
mechanism or project
• Independent assessment
Communications
on community-level
impact and the
economic and
environmental co-
benefits
Emphasis on soil
and contribution to
zero” goals of the Paris
Agreement
Robust accounting,
recognized standards
and methodologies,
measured
and social outcomes
Independent
endorsement, positive
co-benefits of soil
enhancement
particularly economic
impact to rural poor
Positioning
Offsets from
Soil Carbon

Methodology MRV Quality Institutions
11
Internationally peer-
reviewed
methodologies applied
and adapted to be fit
for purpose. Build on
independent
standards (Verra, GS,
CAR, etc.)
Standardized and
scalable MRV
framework using best
available technologies
(remote sensing,
sensors, IoT, etc.)
Independent third
party assessment of
the methodology,
design and the results
(carbon offsets)
Defining clear
institutional approval
processes and
documentation for
participation in climate
markets
CREATINGCARBONOFFSETS
Move towards standardization of the process of creating
carbon assets (for offsets and compliance requirements)

Methodology and MRV development should be fit-for-purpose and evolve
Fit-for-purpose methodology and MRV should could
start with the purpose of encouraging investment,
result based finance and evolve to “market grade”
methodologies with increasing data, modeling and
sophistication of MRV systems:
• Scalable and designed to catalyze and drive systemic
change
• Landscape level design, validation and verification
• Stratification and innovative sampling will reduce cost
and complexity
• Accurate for capturing the results impact
• Sampling and modeling utilized to identify impacts
(sequestered carbon) at manageable costs and
reasonable accuracy
• Methodology and MRV should evolve in accuracy
• With iteration, data and model accuracy should
improve
• Sampling can become better designed at lower costs
with more reliable results

Summary and conclusions
• Growing interest in natural climate (nature based) solutions to meet the global goal a net
zero planet by 2050
• Soil organic carbon removals can play a very important role in being part of the measures
for sequestration/ removal of greenhouse gasses
• For this to happen, soil organic measures need to gain the visibility of the global
community though credible accounting methodologies and MRV systems that is
implementable in a cost-effective manner:
 Scalable and designed to catalyze and drive systemic change
 Accurate for capturing the results impact
 Methodology and MRV should evolve in accuracy
• Fit-for-purpose methodologies and MRV systems should could start with the purpose of
encouraging investment, result based finance and evolve to “market grade” accounting
methodologies and associated MRV systems.
• There is a need to consider a sequenced approach for result based payments to evolve
into carbon market linked incentives

Break
11:10 – 11:25 AM EDT
15 minutes