GSK signs 500,000-tonne carbon removal deal with Indian farmers
GSK's new eight-year deal will pay Indian farmers to remove half a million tonnes of carbon through regenerative rice farming, while cutting water use and pollution.
Pharmaceutical giant GSK has signed an eight-year deal with carbon removal company Varaha to buy more than 500,000 carbon credits from a regenerative farming program across Punjab and Haryana in northern India, in an agreement brokered by investment platform Earthly. The project will expand practices like direct-seeded rice and reduced tillage — replacing crop residue burning — across 50,000 hectares, generating carbon removal credits while also cutting air pollution and water use.
Early results from a smaller 42,000-hectare rollout avoided an estimated 4,574 tonnes of fine particulate matter and saved about 59.5 billion liters of water, and participating farmers reportedly saw incomes rise 12-16% through a mix of subsidized equipment and carbon credit revenue sharing.
The deal is expected to deliver about 100,000 tonnes of annual carbon removal credits between 2028 and 2033 — roughly 7% of GSK's projected remaining emissions as the company works toward a 2045 climate-neutrality target that includes a 90% cut to its value-chain emissions from a 2020 baseline.
Based on reporting by Kenny Fisher for ESG Today. Read the original: https://www.esgtoday.com/gsk-signs-500000-tonne-carbon-removal-deal-with-varaha/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
