• GSK has signed an eight-year agreement for carbon credits from Varaha’s regenerative agriculture project in northern India.
• The project will expand regenerative farming practices across more than 50,000 hectares, targeting emissions from crop residue burning and increased soil carbon storage.
• The credits will support GSK’s strategy to cut emissions 80% by 2030 and address residual emissions through nature-based projects with health co-benefits.

GSK has committed to carbon credits from an Indian regenerative agriculture project as the pharmaceutical group expands its use of nature-based climate solutions.

The eight-year purchase agreement covers credits generated by Varaha across northern India. Earthly, a nature-risk infrastructure provider, structured the transaction.

Under the agreement, GSK will support the expansion of regenerative agriculture practices across more than 50,000 hectares. The programme targets two climate challenges at once: emissions from crop residue burning and carbon storage within agricultural soils.

The project also links corporate climate finance with one of South Asia’s persistent public health concerns. Seasonal crop burning contributes heavily to air pollution across the region.

Tackling agricultural emissions at farm level

Farmers in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana routinely burn rice residues after harvesting. The practice clears fields quickly before the next planting season begins.

Alternatives can require costly machinery, additional labour and more time. Those constraints have left many farmers with limited practical options.

Burning agricultural residue releases carbon dioxide, methane and other pollutants. It also contributes to the severe seasonal air pollution experienced across northern India and neighbouring regions.

Varaha’s project provides farmers with alternatives to conventional field clearing. These include Direct Seeded Rice, reduced tillage and incorporating crop residues directly into soils.

Participating farmers receive subsidised access to machinery and a share of revenue generated from carbon credits.

The farming practices are also designed to improve yields, soil structure and water retention. They can reduce the need for chemical fertilisers, creating additional environmental and economic benefits beyond carbon.

For GSK, those wider outcomes are important. The company has positioned human health co-benefits as a key consideration within its nature investment strategy.

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Carbon credits support GSK’s 2030 strategy

GSK aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 against a 2020 baseline.

The company plans to address the remaining 20% through investments in high-quality nature protection and restoration projects. Its strategy places particular emphasis on projects capable of producing benefits for both climate and human health.

The Varaha agreement gives GSK long-term access to credits linked to emissions reductions and carbon dioxide removal.

That combination is increasingly relevant for corporate buyers. Companies face greater scrutiny over how credits are used, the durability of claimed climate benefits and whether projects deliver measurable outcomes beyond carbon accounting.

Longer-term purchase agreements can also provide project developers with greater revenue certainty. That can support expansion while giving corporate buyers more visibility over future credit supply.

Project moves toward CCP eligibility

Varaha’s northern India project is certified under Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard using its VM0042 methodology for improved agricultural land management.

As part of the GSK agreement, the project will transition to VM0042 version 2.2.

The upgrade is intended to enable future credit issuances to qualify for the Core Carbon Principles, or CCP, label. The label is designed to identify credits that meet integrity standards developed by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market.

For corporate sustainability teams and investors, methodology quality is becoming a central governance consideration. Buyers increasingly need evidence that credits meet evolving standards for additionality, measurement, permanence and environmental integrity.

GSK’s agreement also illustrates a broader shift in voluntary carbon markets toward projects that combine climate outcomes with identifiable social and environmental benefits.

In northern India, that means climate finance could help farmers change practices while reducing a source of regional air pollution. For global companies, projects of this type offer another test of whether carbon markets can connect corporate climate commitments with measurable changes on the ground.