Technical Explainer: Carbon Credits for Improved Rice Cultivation

The document analyzes the transition of rice methane avoidance credits following a massive invalidation of projects in 2024. It evaluates new methodologies from Verra, Gold Standard, and CAR, identifying key risks in additionality, baselines, and MRV while providing mitigation strategies for buyers and developers.

• In 2024, a significant portion of rice methane avoidance credits were removed from the voluntary carbon market (VCM). Specifically, Verra invalidated 37 projects responsible for 4.5 million credits, which represented 99.9% of all issued rice credits, primarily due to "significant additionality concerns".
• Rice cultivation is a major source of greenhouse gases, with flooded paddies accounting for approximately 10% of global methane emissions. Credits are generated by reducing the time fields are flooded through practices such as Alternate wetting and drying (AWD), which can reduce methane emissions by 53% and water use by roughly 20%, as well as direct seeding (DSR) and early drainage.
• Newer, active methodologies (such as Verra's VM0051 released in 2025) are more rigorous than the inactive CDM AMS-III.AU methodology. They feature more dynamic baseline-setting and robust additionality requirements, resulting in lower projected credit issuance of four to six credits per hectare, compared to the 12 to 15 credits allowed under the previous CDM methodology.
• The document identifies 'Additionality/Baselines' and 'MRV' (monitoring, reporting, and verification) as 'Medium concern' risks with 'Common' prevalence. Risks include inaccurate baseline assumptions that oversimplify environmental variability and a reliance on farmer-reported data without digital verification.
• To mitigate quality risks, the report recommends that stakeholders prioritize projects using digital MRV (such as satellite imagery for AWD verification), site- or region-specific methane emissions factors rather than country-level statistics, and verified third-party attestations.
• There is a trend toward using holistic agricultural land management (ALM) methodologies, particularly in regions like China and India where rice-wheat rotations are common. These allow developers to claim credits for both soil organic carbon (SOC) removals and methane reductions.

APA

RMI (2025). Technical Explainer: Carbon Credits for Improved Rice Cultivation. https://rmi.org/resources/technical-explainer-carbon-credits-for-improved-rice-cultivation/

Chicago

RMI. Technical Explainer: Carbon Credits for Improved Rice Cultivation. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/technical-explainer-carbon-credits-for-improved-rice-cultivation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Technical Explainer: Carbon Credits for Improved Rice Cultivation |date=30 July 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/technical-explainer-carbon-credits-for-improved-rice-cultivation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025technical, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Technical Explainer: Carbon Credits for Improved Rice Cultivation}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/technical-explainer-carbon-credits-for-improved-rice-cultivation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }