Modern agriculture has taken its toll on soils.
Centuries of plowing, cutting, and overgrazing has made land less fertile.
This has also releasedbillions of tonnesof CO2 into the atmosphere.
HeavyFinance pays farmers to put some of this carbon back into the ground.
Specifically, the company issues loans to encourage the switch to regenerative farming practices.
This includes rotating crops, growing cover crops during the off season, or plowing less often.
These processes can remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil.
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The company does this using satellite data and soil samples.
The more carbon farmers pull from the atmosphere, the more money they can make.
In war-torn Ukraine, this could provide a valuable income stream.
The Lithuanian company is far from the only one betting big on soil carbon credits.
Agreena, a soil carbon credit provider from Denmark, now hastwo million hectaresof farmland under its management.
Across the Atlantic, US-based Indigo has securedhundreds of millionsof dollars for its own soil carbon marketplace.
Proponents say soil carbon credits offer a way to draw down CO2 and improve cash flow for struggling farmers.
But some criticsquestionthe science behind it.
Issuing soil carbon credits relies on broad estimates of how much carbon has been stored.
Whats more, researchers stilldont fully understandthe science of how soils store and release carbon.
Issuers have come undermounting scrutinyfor overinflating the value of these credits, causing many companies to stop purchasing them.
HeavyFinance estimates that applying regenerative practices across Ukraines entire agricultural estate can reduce 757.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
This is equivalent to the total annual carbon output of Germany.
One of the themes of this years TNW Conference is Sustainable Futures.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
