Introduction: The Quality Question in Carbon Markets
Not all carbon credits are equal — and not all carbon removals are real.
As the carbon market expands, credibility has become its biggest challenge. The questions buyers, regulators, and even farmers are asking are simple but critical:
-Is this carbon removal permanent?
-Would this have happened anyway?
These questions lead us to the two most important concepts in the carbon world: Permanence and Additionality.
Without them, a carbon credit is just an accounting illusion. With them, it becomes a verified environmental impact — a tonne of carbon genuinely removed or avoided.
The 2025 Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) identifies these two as non-negotiable pillars of carbon integrity.
Anaxee, through its digital-first, ground-executed model, ensures that every carbon project — whether afforestation, soil carbon, or biochar — meets these principles with measurable, traceable proof.
Understanding the Core: Permanence and Additionality
Let’s start with what these terms really mean, beyond the policy jargon.
1. Permanence: Will the Carbon Stay Locked Away?
Definition: Permanence refers to the duration for which carbon remains removed from the atmosphere.
If a tree stores carbon today but burns in 10 years, that carbon goes right back — the removal is temporary. If a tonne of CO₂ is stored as biochar or in stable soil carbon for 100–1000 years, that’s durable carbon removal.
In short, permanence asks:
“How long will this tonne of carbon actually stay out of the atmosphere?”
Typical Permanence Ranges by Project Type:
Project Type
Typical Duration
Permanence Risk
Afforestation / Reforestation (ARR)
30–100 years
Moderate (fire, disease, land-use change)
Soil Carbon
10–100 years
Moderate (tillage, erosion)
Biochar / Mineralization
100–1000+ years
Low
Direct Air Capture (DAC)
1000+ years
Very Low
Projects with low reversal risks and robust monitoring score higher on permanence — and therefore generate higher-value carbon credits.
2. Additionality: Would It Have Happened Anyway?
Definition: Additionality means the project results in emission reductions or removals that wouldn’t have occurred without carbon finance.
If a farmer plants trees only because a carbon project supports them — that’s additional. If a company was going to switch to renewables regardless — that’s not additional.
It’s about causality.
“Would this action have taken place without the incentive of carbon revenue?”
High Additionality = Real Climate Impact.
3. Why Both Matter
A carbon credit that isn’t additional is fake impact. A credit that isn’t permanent is short-lived impact. Only when both align do we get genuine, measurable, and lasting climate action.
The Problem: Greenwashing through Weak Permanence & False Additionality
Many early carbon projects — especially in forestry and avoidance categories — overpromised and underdelivered. Examples include:
-Forest projects that were later cut down or burned.
-Landfill gas projects claiming credits for activities already mandated by law.
-Soil carbon claims without credible measurement or baselines.
These failures eroded market trust — prompting buyers and rating agencies (like BeZero and Sylvera) to emphasize permanence and additionality scores.
The outcome: High-quality credits are no longer about volume — but about verifiable, durable impact.
How Permanence Is Ensured
Permanence depends on how we store carbon and monitor it over time.
1. Buffer Pools and Insurance Mechanisms
Most registries (like Verra, Gold Standard, and Puro.Earth) require projects to deposit a percentage of credits into a buffer pool — a form of insurance in case stored carbon is reversed (e.g., fire, storm, etc.).
2. Long-Term Land Tenure and Legal Safeguards
Projects must ensure land rights, agreements, and protection mechanisms over decades. This is particularly important in community projects where tenure can shift.
3. dMRV and Ongoing Monitoring
Digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) — a key Anaxee innovation — ensures permanence isn’t just promised, but continuously verified.
Anaxee’s dMRV includes:
-Satellite-based land-use monitoring
-Geotagged on-ground surveys
-Automated alerts for land-use change or degradation
-Periodic verification dashboards
This creates a living record of permanence, not just a one-time audit.
How Additionality Is Proven
Additionality isn’t theoretical — it must be demonstrated with evidence.
Carbon standards evaluate this through three major tests:
Test
Description
Example
Financial Test
The project is not viable without carbon finance.
A smallholder farmer only plants trees because carbon revenue covers input costs.
Regulatory Test
The activity isn’t legally required.
India’s Green Credit Program cannot be counted as additional if mandatory.
Common Practice Test
The project activity isn’t already widely adopted.
Agroforestry in a new dryland region vs. existing government plantations.
Anaxee ensures additionality through baseline data collection, local socioeconomic surveys, and verifiable financial models that demonstrate carbon revenue as a key enabler.
The Anaxee Approach: Making Permanence and Additionality Measurable
1. Tech-Driven Baseline Creation
Before project start, Anaxee collects data on land cover, biomass, and farmer income levels. This becomes the baseline for proving additionality and tracking change.
2. Continuous Digital MRV
Unlike traditional MRV (one-time field verification), Anaxee’s dMRV continuously captures:
-Tree survival and canopy cover (via remote sensing)
-Farmer adoption patterns and incentive dependency
This real-time visibility ensures both permanence and additionality are auditable.
3. Human Network for Ground Validation
Anaxee’s Digital Runners Network — a unique on-ground workforce across rural India — provides hyper-local verification. They collect evidence, interviews, and geotagged photos to validate real community engagement and prevent “paper projects.”
4. Long-Term Project Stewardship
Most developers exit post-crediting. Anaxee stays. Its model includes long-term monitoring contracts and community revenue-sharing mechanisms — creating incentives for project durability.
Case Study: Comparing Two Carbon Credit Pathways
Parameter
Traditional Tree Plantation
Anaxee’s ARR / Biochar Project
Permanence
Moderate (30–50 years, risk of reversal)
High (100+ years for biochar, digitally monitored)
Additionality
Low–Medium (government overlap)
High (private financing, voluntary participation)
Monitoring
Manual, periodic
Continuous digital + satellite
Co-benefits
Limited tracking
Documented: income, soil health, resilience
Buyer Confidence
Medium
High (data-backed transparency)
This contrast explains why Anaxee’s projects consistently meet high-quality carbon standards and appeal to global buyers seeking verified permanence.
The Policy Context: India and Global Markets
In India:
The upcoming Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) will classify credits based on quality. “Durable” and “additional” projects — like biochar, soil carbon, and long-term ARR — are likely to attract premium demand.
Globally:
Initiatives like the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM) and Carbon Credit Quality Initiative (CCQI) are codifying permanence and additionality into rating frameworks.
In this landscape, Anaxee’s data-verified permanence gives Indian credits global credibility.
Anaxee’s Permanence Tools
Component
Function
Outcome
dMRV System
Tracks land, biomass, and soil changes via app + satellite
Transparent data trail
Digital Runners
Local monitoring and feedback loops
Human verification layer
Climate Command Centre
Centralized analytics dashboard
Data integrity and early alerts
Community Contracts
Shared revenue and maintenance clauses
Ensures ongoing stewardship
Anaxee essentially operationalizes permanence — turning what was once a “paper claim” into data-backed continuity.
Why Permanence & Additionality Are the Future of Carbon Markets
1. Buyers Are Paying for Quality
The premium in today’s carbon market is not for tree counts, but for certainty and proof. Durable, additional projects command 3–10x higher prices.
2. Rating Agencies Demand Evidence
Projects without measurable permanence or clear additionality are being downrated or delisted.
3. Regulatory Shifts
As India formalizes its carbon registry, “high-quality” projects will likely receive faster approvals and compliance eligibility.
The Anaxee Value Proposition
Anaxee is building the infrastructure of credibility in India’s carbon market. Its unique combination of technology, traceability, and human verification ensures every credit sold is:
✅ Real (Additional) ✅ Lasting (Permanent) ✅ Transparent (Digitally Verified)
Through its Tech for Climate model — powered by a 125+ member internal team and 40,000+ Digital Runners — Anaxee can implement and monitor carbon projects at unprecedented scale and reliability.
Whether it’s soil carbon, biochar, or ARR, permanence and additionality are not theoretical promises — they are measured outcomes.
Conclusion: Trust Is Built on Permanence
Carbon credits without permanence and additionality are hollow promises. The world is demanding proof — not pledges.
By embedding long-term durability and verifiable additionality into every project, Anaxee is redefining what a “high-quality carbon credit” means in the Indian context.
In a market moving from offsetting to authentic removal, permanence isn’t just a metric — it’s the foundation of trust.
About Anaxee:
Anaxee drives/develops large-scale, country-wide Climate and Carbon Credit projects across India. We specialize in Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and community-driven initiatives, providing the technology and on-ground network needed to execute, monitor, and ensure transparency in projects like agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, improved cookstoves, solar devices, water filters and more. Our systems are designed to maintain integrity and verifiable impact in carbon methodologies.
Beyond climate, Anaxee is India’s Reach Engine- building the nation’s largest last-mile outreach network of 100,000 Digital Runners (shared, tech-enabled field force). We help corporates, agri-focused companies, and social organizations scale to rural and semi-urban India by executing projects in 26 states, 540+ districts, and 11,000+ pin codes, ensuring both scale and 100% transparency in last-mile operations. Connect with Anaxee at sales@anaxee.com
The world’s carbon removal efforts often focus on trees and soils — vital, but vulnerable. Trees can burn, soil carbon can erode. True climate impact needs durability — carbon that stays locked away for decades or even centuries.
This is where biochar and other soil amendments come in.
Biochar is a stable, carbon-rich material produced by heating organic matter (like crop residues, wood waste, or manure) under low oxygen — a process called pyrolysis. When applied to soils, biochar not only improves fertility and water retention, but also stores carbon for hundreds to thousands of years.
For India — a nation where agriculture and waste management intersect — biochar represents a powerful, scalable, and high-quality carbon removal solution.
The 2025 Criteria for High-Quality Carbon Dioxide Removal highlight durability and environmental co-benefits as essential principles. Biochar checks both boxes.
What Is Biochar?
Biochar is produced when organic biomass — crop residues, husks, twigs, or even municipal green waste — is heated in a low-oxygen environment. Unlike open burning (which releases CO₂), pyrolysis converts much of that carbon into a stable, solid form that resists decomposition.
When applied to soil:
-It enhances soil structure and nutrient retention.
-Increases microbial activity and root growth.
-Holds carbon in a stable state for centuries.
Simply put, it transforms agricultural waste into a permanent carbon sink.
Why Biochar Matters for India
1. Agriculture-Driven Economy
India’s 150+ million smallholder farmers generate vast crop residues. Many burn this biomass, contributing to air pollution and CO₂ emissions. Biochar converts that same waste into soil health and carbon credits.
2. Soil Degradation Crisis
Over 30% of Indian soils are degraded or nutrient-depleted. Biochar improves organic matter, pH balance, and water retention — directly improving productivity.
3. Climate Commitments
Under India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and CCTS (Carbon Credit Trading Scheme), durable carbon removal like biochar will be crucial to long-term decarbonization.
4. Circular Economy Alignment
Biochar ties together agriculture, waste management, and carbon markets — converting local problems into revenue-generating, climate-positive outcomes.
Biochar and Soil Amendments: What’s the Difference?
While “biochar” often gets the spotlight, soil amendments is a broader category.
Type
Description
Carbon Durability
Example Application
Biochar
Pyrolyzed biomass, highly stable carbon
100–1000 years
Crop residue pyrolysis for farm use
Compost
Organic matter decomposition
1–10 years
Manure or green waste for fertility
Enhanced Rock Weathering
Silicate mineral application capturing CO₂
100–10,000 years
Basalt dust on farmlands
Organic Manures / Vermicompost
Natural nutrient recycling
1–5 years
Fertility boost, low permanence
Biochar stands out for durability, but its synergy with other amendments (like compost or rock dust) maximizes soil and carbon benefits — a strategy Anaxee is deploying at scale.
What Makes Biochar “High-Quality” Carbon Removal?
The 2025 Criteria for High-Quality CDR define three pillars for durable removals:
1. Measurement and MRV
Every tonne of carbon must be quantifiable, traceable, and verifiable.
-Anaxee’s dMRV system records all these in real time using mobile apps and satellite-linked systems.
2. Durability
Carbon in biochar is chemically stable. Studies show >80% of carbon remains sequestered after 100 years. This makes biochar one of the most durable CDR pathways available today.
3. Environmental Co-Benefits
High-quality projects enhance soil health, reduce pollution, and improve yields. Biochar projects align perfectly with climate justice and environmental integrity — avoiding trade-offs like monoculture plantations or fertilizer overuse.
The MRV Challenge (and Opportunity)
Biochar’s credibility depends on robust data — how much carbon is actually stored and for how long. Traditional MRV struggles with:
-Inconsistent feedstock records
-Lack of local lab analysis
-Fragmented data management
Anaxee’s Digital MRV (dMRV) overcomes this through:
-Geotagged data on biomass source and pyrolysis unit.
-Automated reporting of application areas.
-Satellite imagery cross-verification.
-Blockchain-based data integrity (for future registry integration).
Result: Lower verification costs, faster credit issuance, and traceable impact.
Anaxee’s Biochar and Soil Amendment Model
Anaxee integrates biochar into its Tech for Climate execution ecosystem, connecting farmers, technology, and markets:
1. Feedstock Collection via Digital Runners
-Rural Digital Runners mobilize local crop residue collection.
-Prevents burning and creates a carbon-positive supply chain.
2. Decentralized Pyrolysis Units
-Small-scale, locally operated pyrolysis units convert biomass to biochar.
-Supports village-level entrepreneurship.
3. dMRV Tracking
-Every batch of biochar is logged with feedstock details, GPS, timestamp, and application area.
-Farmers and buyers can trace carbon from field to registry.
4. Application and Soil Benefits
-Biochar applied on degraded farmlands increases yield, water retention, and soil carbon content.
-Results shared with buyers and verifiers through Anaxee dashboards.
5. Long-Term Durability
-Once sequestered, carbon in biochar remains stable for centuries.
-Regular satellite checks ensure no reversal or land-use change.
Anaxee thus bridges tech-enabled monitoring with community-centered implementation — ensuring carbon removals are real, durable, and fair.
Biochar in Carbon Markets
1. Growing Global Demand
Buyers like Microsoft, Shopify, and Carbonfuture are investing heavily in durable removals, including biochar. Credits fetch $100–$300 per tonne, far above typical forestry credits.
2. Emerging Methodologies
Standards like Puro.Earth, Verra’s Biochar Methodology, and Charm Industrial’s model are shaping a robust global market.
3. India’s Potential
With abundant biomass, low-cost labor, and supportive policy, India could become a biochar export powerhouse — provided quality and verification match global expectations.
Anaxee is positioning its projects to align with these premium markets, offering corporates traceable, durable, and community-positive credits.
The Co-Benefits: Climate, Soil, and People
High-quality biochar projects go beyond carbon:
Impact Area
Description
Example
Climate
Long-term CO₂ sequestration, reduced burning
Avoids stubble burning emissions
Soil Health
Improved fertility, moisture retention, structure
Higher yields for smallholders
Air Quality
Eliminates crop-burning smoke
Cleaner air in rural belts
Livelihoods
Adds rural income via carbon finance
Farmer revenue + local jobs
Circular Economy
Reuses waste, reduces landfill
Biomass → Biochar → Soil health
This is carbon removal that benefits both people and planet.
India’s Biochar Future
India’s next agricultural revolution won’t come from fertilizers — it’ll come from carbon-smart farming. By 2030, India could:
-Produce 50 million tonnes of biochar annually,
-Sequester over 100 million tonnes of CO₂e, and
-Create millions of rural green jobs.
With the right infrastructure, MRV, and financing, biochar could become India’s signature carbon removal export.
Conclusion: Building Durability into India’s Carbon Story
Carbon markets are evolving fast. The next wave is about durability, traceability, and co-benefits — not just offsets. Biochar embodies all three.
The 2025 Criteria for High-Quality CDR call for long-lasting, verifiable, socially just solutions. Anaxee’s biochar model — integrating tech, communities, and dMRV — shows how India can lead this frontier.
As carbon buyers shift from “cheap” to credible, projects like Anaxee’s will define the new gold standard.
👉 Call to Action Partner with Anaxee to scale biochar and soil carbon projects that deliver durable climate impact and rural prosperity across India.
About Anaxee:
Anaxee drives/develops large-scale, country-wide Climate and Carbon Credit projects across India. We specialize in Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and community-driven initiatives, providing the technology and on-ground network needed to execute, monitor, and ensure transparency in projects like agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, improved cookstoves, solar devices, water filters and more. Our systems are designed to maintain integrity and verifiable impact in carbon methodologies.
Beyond climate, Anaxee is India’s Reach Engine- building the nation’s largest last-mile outreach network of 100,000 Digital Runners (shared, tech-enabled field force). We help corporates, agri-focused companies, and social organizations scale to rural and semi-urban India by executing projects in 26 states, 540+ districts, and 11,000+ pin codes, ensuring both scale and 100% transparency in last-mile operations. Connect with Anaxee at sales@anaxee.com
Anaxee Digital Runners Private Limited 303, Right-wing, (use Lift#1) New IT Park Building 3rd floor, Pardesi Pura Main Rd, Electronic Complex, Sukhlia, Indore,
Madhya Pradesh 452003
