Rice can be turned into a powerful vehicle for climate action
For generations, the flooded rice paddy has been both a source of sustenance and a quiet contributor to atmospheric warming, releasing methane at a scale few outside climate science have reckoned with. Now, a partnership between Cool Effect and Mitti Labs signals that the carbon credit market is maturing toward solutions that are simultaneously ancient in their simplicity and sophisticated in their verification — asking farmers in India to drain and refill their fields in a rhythm that could help stabilize the global climate. The agreement, announced in May 2026, reflects a broader recognition that the fastest path to slowing warming may run not through grand industrial transformation, but through the careful stewardship of the world's most ordinary landscapes.
- Rice paddies cover 150 million hectares across Asia and silently emit 12% of global methane — a crisis hiding in plain sight beneath one of humanity's most essential crops.
- Demand for high-integrity carbon credits is outpacing supply, and buyers like Cool Effect are actively hunting for solutions that combine scientific rigor with genuine community impact.
- Mitti Labs' Alternate Wetting and Drying technique cuts methane emissions by up to 50% and water use by up to 40% without reducing yields — a rare win that doesn't ask farmers to sacrifice.
- A NASA-assisted soil-to-sky monitoring system gives the project the verification backbone it needs, tracking emissions reductions on plots smaller than one hectare across millions of fields in near real time.
- More than 70,000 smallholder farmers across six Indian states are already enrolled, earning carbon credit income on top of reduced water costs — turning climate action into a livelihood opportunity.
- Mitti Labs is targeting 2 million credits annually by 2028, a scale that would constitute a measurable intervention in global rice-sector emissions and a real-world test of the carbon market's promises.
Rice feeds nearly half of humanity, but the traditional method of growing it — keeping paddies continuously flooded — creates ideal conditions for methane to rise from the soil. The crop accounts for roughly 12 percent of global methane emissions and consumes about a third of the world's freshwater, straining aquifers in regions already facing drought. This is the problem Mitti Labs, a climate technology company based in Bengaluru and New York, set out to address. On May 14, 2026, the company announced a major partnership with Cool Effect, a San Francisco nonprofit and one of the world's largest purchasers of high-integrity carbon credits.
The partnership expands Cool Effect's focus on superpollutants — fast-acting greenhouse gases like methane that warm the atmosphere far more rapidly than carbon dioxide. Over the past two years, the organization has directed more than $36 million to superpollutant projects, with 64 percent of its credits targeting methane and ozone-depleting substances. Demand for such credits is strong; supply has struggled to keep up. Adding rice methane to its portfolio signals both the urgency of the problem and Cool Effect's confidence in Mitti Labs' solution.
That solution is called Alternate Wetting and Drying — a technique in which farmers periodically drain and refill their paddies rather than keeping them flooded. The method reduces water use by up to 40 percent and methane emissions by up to 50 percent, without affecting yields. Mitti Labs has already brought more than 70,000 smallholder farmers across six Indian states into the practice. To verify results at scale, the company built a soil-to-sky monitoring system — developed partly with NASA support — that combines ground sensors with satellite remote sensing to track emissions on plots smaller than one hectare in near real time.
Cool Effect CEO Jodi Manning described the partnership as a response to a market inflection point, calling rice methane credits a new frontier of permanent emissions reductions paired with meaningful co-benefits. The project is expected to conserve an estimated 25 billion liters of water in stressed regions while generating additional income for participating farmers. Mitti Labs co-founder Xavi Laguarta called the moment a validation of the company's founding premise — that rice, a staple for half the world and a significant climate liability, could become a vehicle for climate action. The company plans to scale to 2 million credits annually by 2028, a volume that would represent a genuine test of whether carbon markets can align profit with planetary stability.
Rice feeds nearly half the world's population, but the way we grow it is quietly poisoning the atmosphere. Flooded rice paddies—the traditional method across Asia—create ideal conditions for methane to bubble up from the soil. The crop occupies 150 million hectares across the continent, an area roughly three times the size of California, and accounts for about 12 percent of all methane emissions globally. It also consumes roughly a third of the world's freshwater supply, draining aquifers in regions already stressed by drought. This is the problem Mitti Labs, a climate technology company based in Bengaluru and New York, set out to solve. And on May 14, 2026, the company announced it had found a major buyer for its solution: Cool Effect, a San Francisco nonprofit that has become one of the largest purchasers of high-integrity carbon credits in the world.
The partnership marks a significant expansion of the carbon credit market's focus on what climate scientists call superpollutants—gases like methane and ozone-depleting substances that warm the atmosphere far more rapidly than carbon dioxide. Over the past two years, Cool Effect has purchased more than 3.3 million tonnes of superpollutant credits, directing over $36 million directly to project partners. Sixty-four percent of all credits the organization bought during that period addressed these fast-acting emissions sources. The market is shifting decisively toward what buyers call high-integrity credits—those with rigorous verification, measurable impact, and genuine community benefits. Supply, however, has not kept pace with demand. Cool Effect's move to add rice methane to its portfolio signals both the urgency of the problem and the viability of a solution.
Mitti Labs' approach centers on a deceptively simple technique called Alternate Wetting and Drying, or AWD. Instead of keeping rice paddies continuously flooded, farmers periodically drain and refill them. The method reduces water consumption by up to 40 percent and methane emissions by up to 50 percent—without cutting into yields. The company has already partnered with more than 70,000 smallholder farmers across six Indian states to implement the practice at scale. But scaling further requires something more than good intentions: it requires proof. Mitti Labs has built what it calls a soil-to-sky monitoring system, developed in part with support from NASA, that combines ground-level methane measurements with satellite remote sensing technology. The system can track irrigation practices on rice plots smaller than one hectare, generating near real-time data on emissions reductions across millions of fields. This precision allows the company to issue carbon credits with the kind of scientific rigor that buyers now demand.
Jodi Manning, the CEO of Cool Effect, framed the partnership as a response to a market inflection point. "As the market raises the bar on integrity and impact, it's critical that buyers have access to solutions that are both scientifically rigorous and truly scalable," she said. The rice methane credits represent what she called a new frontier—permanent emissions reductions paired with meaningful co-benefits. The Mitti Labs partnership is expected to conserve an estimated 25 billion liters of water in water-stressed regions of India while generating additional income for the smallholder farmers who adopt the practice. For farmers, the incentive is direct: they earn carbon credit revenue on top of whatever they gain from reduced water and input costs.
Xavi Laguarta, Mitti Labs' co-founder, described the moment as validation of a three-year-old bet. "Three years after our launch, we have now demonstrated that rice, a key staple for half of humanity, which is also a major guzzler of water and emitter of powerful greenhouse gases, can be turned into a powerful vehicle for climate action," he said. The company, backed by investors including Lightspeed and Cisco, plans to scale to 2 million credits issued annually by 2028. That volume would represent a meaningful dent in global rice-sector emissions—and a test of whether the carbon credit market can actually deliver on its promise to align profit with climate action. The partnership between Cool Effect and Mitti Labs suggests the market is ready to try.
Citações Notáveis
As the market raises the bar on integrity and impact, it's critical that buyers have access to solutions that are both scientifically rigorous and truly scalable.— Jodi Manning, CEO of Cool Effect
Three years after our launch, we have now demonstrated that rice can be turned into a powerful vehicle for climate action.— Xavi Laguarta, Mitti Labs co-founder
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does rice farming matter so much for climate? It seems like a niche problem.
It's not niche at all. Rice feeds nearly half the world's population, and it occupies an area three times the size of California. When you flood paddies the traditional way, you create conditions where methane rises from the soil. That's 12 percent of global methane emissions from one crop.
And methane is worse than carbon dioxide?
Much worse in the near term. It warms the atmosphere 80 times faster over a 20-year period. So if you want climate impact now, not in 2050, methane reduction is where the leverage is.
So Mitti Labs just tells farmers to stop flooding their fields?
Not quite. They use something called Alternate Wetting and Drying—you drain and refill the paddies instead of keeping them constantly wet. Farmers still get the same yields, but they cut water use by 40 percent and methane by 50 percent.
And Cool Effect is buying the carbon credits from that reduction?
Yes, but the real innovation is how Mitti Labs proves the reduction happened. They use satellite technology and ground-level sensors—NASA-developed tools—to monitor emissions in near real-time across millions of fields. That precision is what makes the credits trustworthy.
Who actually benefits financially?
The farmers do, directly. They get paid for the carbon credits. They also save money on water and inputs. And Cool Effect's buyers—corporations and individuals—get verifiable climate impact. It's structured so everyone has skin in the game.
What's the scale we're talking about?
Right now, 70,000 farmers across six Indian states. Mitti Labs wants to issue 2 million credits annually by 2028. That's real volume—enough to matter for global emissions.