Amazon.com Inc. announced on April 23, 2026, the signing of a significant carbon credit offtake agreement with The Good Rice Alliance (TGRA). Under the terms of the multi-year contract, Amazon has committed to purchasing carbon credits representing the reduction of more than 685,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). The credits are generated through a large-scale project aimed at reducing methane emissions from rice cultivation across several major agricultural states in India.
The Good Rice Alliance, a collaborative initiative focused on sustainable agriculture, will oversee the implementation of climate-smart farming techniques among smallholder farmers. The primary method utilized in the project is Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD). Traditional rice farming involves continuous flooding of paddies, which creates anaerobic conditions conducive to methane-producing bacteria. By periodically draining the fields, AWD can reduce methane emissions by up to 50 percent while simultaneously decreasing water consumption by approximately 25 percent without compromising crop yields.
Abhinav Singh, Amazon’s Vice President of Operations and Sustainability for the region, stated that this agreement represents a critical step in the company’s strategy to address emissions within its broader supply chain and geographical footprint. The project is expected to involve tens of thousands of farmers in states such as Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. Beyond the environmental impact, the initiative includes provisions for technical training and financial incentives for participating farmers, who will receive a portion of the revenue generated from the sale of carbon credits.
The agreement is part of Amazon’s broader commitment to The Climate Pledge, which aims for net-zero carbon across its operations by 2040. The credits generated through the TGRA partnership will be verified against international standards to ensure additionality and permanence. This deal marks one of the largest corporate commitments to agricultural methane reduction in the Indian market to date.
The Good Rice Alliance noted that the partnership provides the necessary long-term financial certainty to scale sustainable practices that were previously cost-prohibitive for individual smallholders. The alliance includes various stakeholders, including NGOs and agricultural technology providers, who facilitate the monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) processes required for credit issuance. The project will utilize satellite imagery and on-ground sensors to track water levels and soil conditions, ensuring data-driven transparency for the carbon accounting process.
Amazon’s investment follows a series of similar nature-based and technology-based carbon removal agreements globally. However, this specific deal highlights a growing focus on methane, a greenhouse gas with a warming potential significantly higher than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. By targeting rice production—a major source of global methane—Amazon aims to diversify its environmental portfolio while supporting agricultural resilience in one of its key growth markets.