Cool Effect and Mitti Labs: partnering on a world first for superpollutant credits based on rice methane reduction

When you think about major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, rice farming probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But here's a startling fact: rice cultivation accounts for 12% of all global methane emissions, roughly equivalent to all air travel worldwide. That's why a new partnership between Mitti Labs and Cool Effect is so significant for the future of climate action.

Fighting methane emissions, one rice field at a time

Today, we are proud to announce that Mitti Labs is partnering with Cool Effect, a leading non-profit based in San Francisco that has supported high-quality climate solutions for the past ten years.

Rice is a staple food for half the world's population, but its environmental footprint is enormous. Rice farming occupies 150 million hectares across Asia—an area roughly three times the size of California. The traditional practice of keeping rice paddies continuously flooded creates the perfect conditions for methane production, a greenhouse gas 85 times more potent than CO2. Additionally, rice cultivation consumes a staggering 30% of the world's freshwater.

The Solution: Alternate Wetting and Drying

Mitti Labs has pioneered the implementation of Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), a Climate-smart irrigation practice that's transforming rice farming. AWD reduces water usage by 40% and slashes methane emissions by 50%. Since launching in 2023, the company has onboarded, trained, and supported 70,000 farmers across six Indian states to adopt this practice.

What makes Mitti Labs' approach particularly innovative is their "soil to sky" digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) system. This rice-specific technology can monitor millions of rice fields in near real-time, even tracking plots smaller than one hectare. This ensures the integrity of their carbon credits while making them scalable and affordable for global buyers.

Why This Partnership Matters

Cool Effect's philosophy is simple: "Carbon Done Correctly." They don't partner with just anyone. In the past decade, they've reviewed over 10,000 projects but currently represent only 64. Each project undergoes a rigorous verification process examining both the science and financials to ensure genuine climate impact. Over 90% of every contribution goes directly to the cause, with minimal administrative overhead. Last year, Cool Effect partnered with Google and start-up Recoolit to pioneer another innovation on corporate offsets based on the desctruction of HFC gases.

Their rigorous standards focus on high additionality—ensuring that projects create genuine climate impact that wouldn't happen otherwise. This selective approach has made Cool Effect a trusted partner for major corporations like Salesforce and American Airlines.

Jodi Manning, Cool Effect's CEO said: "We’re proud to welcome Mitti Labs to our portfolio. Their credits represent a new frontier in high‐integrity climate action, delivering permanent methane reductions from rice cultivation while also driving meaningful co‐benefits for water conservation and smallholder farmer incomes. This is exactly the kind of climate solution we believe in.”

For Mitti Labs co-founder Xavi Laguarta, the partnership validates their vision: "Three years after our launch, we have now demonstrated that rice, a key staple for half of humanity, can be turned into a powerful vehicle for climate action."

This collaboration shows that meaningful climate solutions can deliver multiple benefits—reducing emissions, conserving water, and improving livelihoods for farming communities simultaneously.