Ecosystem Services Market Consortium

TO ADVANCE ECOSYSTEM SERVICE MARKETS THAT INCENTIVIZE FARMERS AND RANCHERS TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH SYSTEMS THAT BENEFIT SOCIETY

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES MARKET CONSORTIUM (ESMC) IS A NON-PROFIT, MEMBER-BASED ORGANIZATION LAUNCHING A NATIONAL SCALE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES MARKET PROGRAM FOR AGRICULTURE TO RECOGNIZE AND REWARD FARMERS AND RANCHERS FOR THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES TO SOCIETY. ESMC MEMBERS REPRESENT THE SPECTRUM OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR SUPPLY CHAIN WITH WHOM WE ARE SCALING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OUTCOMES, INCLUDING INCREASED SOIL CARBON, REDUCED NET GREENHOUSE GASES, AND IMPROVED WATER QUALITY AND WATER USE CONSERVATION. (CONTINUED ON SCH O)DURING 2021, WE CONTINUED TO SUCCESSFULLY ENGAGE AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN AND SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERS IN MARKET PROGRAM INNOVATION, TESTING, AND REFINEMENT TO FURTHER BUILD OUR PROGRAM. REFINEMENTS TO PROTOCOLS, DATA COLLECTION, PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT MODELS PROCEEDED, AS DID EFFORTS TO TEST AND EMBED ADVANCED TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES INTO OUR PLATFORM.THE RESULTS INCLUDE CONTINUED PROGRAMMATIC STREAMLINING AND ACHIEVEMENT OF CRITICAL COST-EFFICIENCIES TO ENABLE SCALED PROGRAM OPERATIONS. WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF A GRANT FROM THE FOUNDATION FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE (FFAR) AND FROM MANY ADDITIONAL FUNDERS, MEMBERS, AND COLLABORATORS, WE HAVE ACHIEVED CRITICAL PROGRESS SINCE LAUNCHING OUR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN 2019 AND ARE ON TARGET TO LAUNCH OUR MARKET PROGRAM IN 2022.WE LAUNCHED 16 DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS WITH PARTNERS ACROSS 8 ESMC PROGRAM REGIONS COVERING MORE THAN 55,000 ACRES. MANY OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE ACHIEVED A STATE OF MARKET-READINESS, WHICH WILL ENABLE THEM TO BECOME SCALED MARKET PROJECTS. WE ARE TARGETING ENROLLMENT OF 500,000 ACRES IN 2022 PROJECTS. NEW PROJECTS LAUNCHING IN 2022 PROJECTS INCLUDE PROGRAM EXPANSION INTO CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL VALLEY AND THE CHESAPEAKE BAY REGIONS.WE INCORPORATED ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS AND INNOVATIONS IN PROGRAM OPERATIONS AND SYSTEMS OF OUR NATIONAL SCALE, HARMONIZED, STANDARDIZED ECOSYSTEM SERVICES MARKET PROGRAM. THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PHASE OF OUR PROJECTS HAS GENERATED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN EFFICIENCIES AND COST REDUCTIONS FOR EVERY STEP OF THE PROGRAM WHICH IS GRAPHICALLY DISPLAYED IN THE FOLLOWING PROCESS DIAGRAM.ESMC'S V8.3 PROTOCOL WAS UPDATED, EXPANDED, AND IMPLEMENTED FOR 2020 CROPLAND PROJECTS IN ESMC'S MIDWESTERN CORN AND SOY, GREAT LAKES, AND SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS REGIONS. THESE PROJECTS WERE SUBMITTED IN 2021 FOR VALIDATION, VERIFICATION, AND VCI CERTIFICATION BY GOLD STANDARD, WITH RESULTS AND APPROVAL EXPECTED IN Q2 2022. SEVEN CROPLAND PROJECT PRODUCERS PARTICIPATED IN THE VALIDATION/ VERIFICATION AUDIT PROCESS IN 2021 INCLUDING THIRD-PARTY ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT DESIGN, PROTOCOL, AND CREDITS GENERATED. A SIGNIFICANT REVISION OF ESMC'S INTEGRATED PROTOCOL (V9.0) WAS FINALIZED IN DECEMBER 2021 TO INCLUDE STANDALONE MODULES FOR EACH CREDIT TYPE, MORE CLEARLY DEFINED ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, A REVISION OF THE FIELD STRATIFICATION AND SOIL SAMPLING PROTOCOL, MORE RIGOROUS QA/QC PROCESSES FOR DATA COLLECTION AND HISTORICAL DATA GAP-FILLING, AND A SHIFT TO USING ACTUAL PRACTICE BASELINES RATHER THAN PREVAILING PRACTICE BASELINES.THE ESMC MONITORING, REPORTING AND VERIFICATION (MRV) PLATFORM UNDERWENT SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT WITH THE RELEASE OF V2 OF THE PRODUCER PORTAL WHICH WAS TESTED AND REFINED FOR 2021 PROGRAM ENROLLMENT, DATA COLLECTION, AND CREDIT GENERATION. SIMULTANEOUSLY, FRONT-END DESIGNERS AND BACK-END SUPPORT WERE ADDED TO DEVELOP THE DESIGN AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR MRV PLATFORM V3.DEVELOPMENT OF ESMC/ESMRC'S FIELD STRATIFICATION AND SOIL SAMPLING APP, WHICH IS CURRENTLY ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PROJECT PARTNERS, HAS IMPROVED IN-FIELD FUNCTIONALITY, PROJECT MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES, AND MRV INTEGRATION THROUGH AUTOMATED DATA TRANSFERS AND API MODULES.THE ESMRC TEAM WORKED TO ADVANCE AND IMPLEMENT NUMEROUS MEMBER-APPROVED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOCUSING ON SOIL ORGANIC CARBON, GHGS, AND WATER DURING 2021.- ESMRC MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON THE ADVANCED SOIL CARBON QUANTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT PROJECT, WHICH FOCUSES ON THE IDENTIFICATION, ASSESSMENT, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO MORE EFFICIENTLY AND COST EFFECTIVELY MEASURE AND QUANTIFY CHANGES TO SOIL CARBON AND AVOIDED OR REDUCED GHGS.- THE N2O QUANTIFICATION PROJECT WAS LAUNCHED IN JULY 2021 AND INVOLVES USING MEASUREMENTS AT LONG-TERM MONITORING SITES, REMOTE SENSING, NEURAL NETWORKS, AND MACHINE LEARNING TO TEST AND IMPROVE ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGIES FOR PREDICTING N2O EMISSIONS AT A FIELD SCALE. THE RESULTS WILL IMPROVE THE SCOPE AND ACCURACY OF GHG CREDIT QUANTIFICATION AND INFORM WATER QUALITY MODELING APPROACHES. PRELIMINARY RESULTS ARE CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW FOR MODEL VALIDATION AND ASSESSMENT OF IMPROVEMENTS TO MODEL PERFORMANCE.- THE ALTERNATIVE SCOPE 3 SOIL SAMPLING PROTOCOLS EVALUATION PROJECT EXPLORED ALTERNATIVE STRATIFICATION, SOIL CARBON SAMPLING PROTOCOLS, AND MEASUREMENT RESULTS TO IMPROVE ESMC MARKET PROGRAM OPERATIONS. PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM TWO SEPARATE ANALYSES SHOWED THAT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING SOIL SAMPLING DENSITY ON A FIELD- OR PROJECT-LEVEL BASIS HAS LITTLE IMPACT ON SOIL CARBON CREDITING OUTCOMES. CONTINUED EVALUATIONS USING BOTH 2020 AND 2021 PILOT DATA WILL RESULT IN UPDATED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOIL SAMPLING DENSITY AIMED AT GENERATING SUBSTANTIAL COST REDUCTIONS FOR THE MARKET PROGRAM WHILE ENSURING CONTINUED SCIENTIFIC RIGOR.- THE ALTERNATIVE SCOPE 3 WATER QUALITY QUANTIFICATION TOOL EVALUATION PROJECT COMPLETED A TECHNICAL EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL WATER QUALITY QUANTIFICATION MODELS AND TOOLS TO MEET SCOPE 3 CORPORATE SUPPLY CHAIN REPORTING NEEDS. BASED ON PROJECT RESULTS, ESMRC IS DEVELOPING A CUSTOMIZED MODEL FOR SIMPLIFIED SCOPE 3 WATER QUALITY CREDIT GENERATION.- ESMRC IS CONTINUING WORK ON THE WATER QUALITY MODELING IMPROVEMENT PROJECT TO TEST AND IMPROVE APEX MODEL FUNCTIONALITY FOR CREDIT GENERATION. FOUR NEW CONSERVATION PRACTICES DRAINAGE WATER MANAGEMENT, BIOREACTORS, CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS, AND SATURATED BUFFERS WERE ADDED TO THE APEX MODEL SPECIFIC TO TILE DRAINAGE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.- THE WATER QUANTITY ASSET DEVELOPMENT PROJECT RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SCOPE 3 WATER QUANTITY CREDIT THE ENVIRONMENTAL FLOW CREDIT USING QUANTIFICATION OF HYDROLOGY CHANGES FROM AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. THIS CREDIT, MEASURING BOTH SURFACE WATER FLOW REDUCTION AND GROUNDWATER RECHARGE, WAS INCORPORATED INTO PROTOCOL V9.