Microsoft agrees long-term purchase of soil carbon credits from Indigo Carbon
The 12-year deal covers 2.85 million credits and supports regenerative farming across millions of US acres, marking the third carbon removal transaction between the companies.
Indigo Carbon PBC will sell 2.85 million soil carbon removal credits to Microsoft under a 12-year agreement, the company said in a statement.
The transaction is the third between the two firms, following Microsoft’s purchases of 40,000 tonnes in 2024 and 60,000 tonnes in 2025. Indigo said the latest agreement will support thousands of American farmers across millions of acres through its U.S.-based Carbon by Indigo programme.
Indigo Carbon is the carbon markets arm of Indigo Ag and focuses on generating verified carbon credits through regenerative agriculture. Its programmes work with farmers to adopt practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage and improved nutrient management, which increase the amount of carbon stored in soils. The resulting emissions reductions and removals are quantified using soil carbon science and modelling, verified under third-party standards, and sold as carbon credits to corporate buyers seeking to meet climate commitments.
The company said regenerative agriculture has the potential to remove more than 3.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, while also improving soil health, increasing crop resilience and yields, and driving local economic investment. “Indigo is a proud catalyst of today’s soil carbon market, with our long-standing history of farmer collaboration and proven impact, already saving 64 billion gallons of water and issuing nearly one million tonnes of CO2e carbon removal credits since 2018,” said Meredith Reisfield, Senior Director of Policy, Partnerships and Impact at Indigo.
Phillip Goodman, Director of Carbon Removal at Microsoft, said the company values Indigo’s approach to regenerative agriculture, which combines payments to growers with verified credits and advances in soil carbon science through modelling and academic partnerships. He added that Indigo’s focus on project quality and third-party standards strengthens the voluntary carbon market.
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Indigo said the credits include 927,296 carbon removal and reduction credits issued under CAR1459 using the Climate Action Reserve’s Soil Enrichment Protocol. The deal is among the first soil carbon transactions to feature credits approved under the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s Core Carbon Principles, the company said. Indigo added that it has introduced measures to reduce reversal risk across the 40-year durability term agreed with Microsoft, alongside the protocol’s 100-year monitoring and reversal compensation requirements.
The company said it currently works with farmers across eight million acres and has paid farmers $40 million through its programmes to date.
The Recap
- Microsoft will purchase 2.85 million soil carbon removal credits.
- Indigo has issued 927,296 credits from CAR1459 using SEP.
- Agreement runs for 12 years with a 40-year durability term.
