Climate finance company InSoil has entered into a €100m partnership with Key Carbon, a financier in the voluntary carbon market.
The partnership’s aim is to enable climate-critical transitions to regenerative agriculture across 1m hectares of European farmland.
The multi-year partnership, InSoil’s largest capital raise to date and one of Europe’s largest financial commitments to climate-resilient farming, grants Key Carbon royalty rights to InSoil’s ‘green loans’ financing model, which offers zero-interest loans to farmers adopting regenerative agricultural practices in return for a fixed share of carbon credits.
In addition, Key Carbon’s subsidiary, EU Soil Carbon Corp, will fund the expansion of InSoil’s carbon farming business, which provides farmers with further technical and financial support in implementing regenerative practices.
“As farmers across Europe face headwinds from climate change and global regulatory dynamics, financial and agronomic support from projects like these are critical to achieving the systemic shifts that achieve real impact in carbon sequestration and a more resilient food system that doesn’t leave the stewards of our lands in the dust,” said Laimonas Noreika, CEO of InSoil.
Noreika added: “Through this agreement with Key Carbon, we will be able to reach more farmers, accelerate climate-positive outcomes, and deliver the kind of high-integrity credits the carbon market increasingly demands. As institutional interest in nature-based solutions continues to grow, our work with Key Carbon will represent a model for blending sustainable finance with climate impact, and turning soil into both a climate solution and a revenue stream for European farmers.”
Luke Leslie, CEO of Key Carbon, said: “Corporate appetite for carbon credits is increasingly shifting towards high-integrity, removal-based and localised solutions to meet the evolving compliance standards. Our partnership with InSoil will provide increased access to funding for farmers, enabling the transition to regenerative agriculture and growing Key Carbon’s supply of high-quality carbon credits.
“With its deep agronomic expertise and strong local networks, InSoil is uniquely positioned to deliver meaningful environmental outcomes and ensure the integrity of carbon credit generation. The partnership will also provide Key Carbon with access to millions of hectares of European farmland with the potential to deliver additional biodiversity monitoring.”
The partners said that with conventional agriculture accounting for more than 20% of global emissions and soil seen as a critical carbon sink, “this collaboration aims to unlock funds that help farmers generate high-quality, nature-based carbon credits that are scientifically validated and third-party verified in alignment with the EU Carbon Removals Certification Framework.
As farmers transition to practices that align with regenerative agriculture principles (those that increase biodiversity, build soil health, and improve water cycles, resulting in more carbon drawdown and greater resilience to extreme weather events), InSoil will deploy its measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) framework to ensure accurate, transparent and high-integrity carbon credit generation, the company said.
It added that its MRV framework includes laboratory-grade soil sampling, advanced remote sensing technologies, expert agronomic assessments, and additional data-driven methodologies.
InSoil’s private debt arm has already deployed more than €80m in financing to over 3,000 farmers.
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