Climate Rising

Agreena: Regenerative Agriculture, Data, and Carbon Markets

Simon Haldrup, founder and CEO of Agreena, joins Climate Rising to discuss how regenerative agriculture can scale beyond early adopters by focusing on farmer economics, data-driven decision-making, and flexible practice “toolboxes” rather than rigid labels. Based on Copenhagen, Agreena combines agriculture, finance and technology to work with 10,000 farmers across 20 countries. The conversation explores why adoption remains challenging despite long-term benefits, including thin margins, short planning horizons, and the risk of yield dips in the initial transition years. Simon also explains how Agreena uses satellite imagery, machine learning, and outcome-based verification to support both carbon credits and carbon insets, and how its two-sided platform aligns farmer incentives with corporate climate commitments. The episode closes with Simon’s perspective on the role of policy, finance, and technology in making regenerative agriculture the “new normal,” and advice for those interested in careers at the intersection of agriculture, climate, and systems thinking.

Scaling Regenerative Agriculture and Carbon Markets with Indigo Ag’s A.J. Kumar

Indigo Ag is one of the most active companies at the intersection of agriculture, carbon markets, and regenerative agricultural practices. A.J. Kumar, Vice President of Sustainability Sciences at Indigo discusses how the company is working with farmers, food companies, and carbon credit buyers to scale regenerative agriculture and unlock environmental and financial benefits. He explains how Indigo supports farmers with both biological inputs and sustainability incentives—from seed coatings and microbial sprays to data-driven tools and market access for carbon credits. A.J. also outlines the challenges farmers face adopting new practices, how Indigo addresses concerns around additionality and permanence in soil carbon projects, and how advances in AI and remote sensing are changing what’s possible in sustainable agriculture. This episode is a part of our series on Regenerative Agriculture, which includes two prior episodes featuring McKinsey & Company Partner Tom Brennan and our next episode with Agreena CEO & Founder Simon Haldrup. Visit climaterising.org to learn more

Regenerative Agriculture at Scale with Tom Brennan at McKinsey - Part 2

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of risk and profitability, why the benefits of regenerative practices often show up most clearly in extreme weather years, and what slows adoption despite growing interest. He also examines the role of food companies, insurers, data, and emerging technologies in lowering barriers to adoption and supporting system-level change.

Regenerative Agriculture at Scale with Tom Brennan at McKinsey - Part 1

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of risk and profitability, why the benefits of regenerative practices often show up most clearly in extreme weather years, and what slows adoption despite growing interest. He also examines the role of food companies, insurers, data, and emerging technologies in lowering barriers to adoption and supporting system-level change. Part 1 focuses on defining regenerative agriculture and why it matters for farmers and climate resilience. Part 2 examines the economics, adoption barriers, and what it would take to scale regenerative agriculture across supply chains. This episode is the first in our series on Regenerative Agriculture. We also have guests such as A.J. Kumar from Indigo Ag. Visit climaterising.org to learn more.

How Amazon Approaches Carbon Markets and Climate Neutralization

Jamey Mulligan, Head of Carbon Neutralization Science and Strategy at Amazon, joins Climate Rising to share how Amazon is tackling its net-zero climate goals, particularly through its engagement in the voluntary carbon market. Jamey explains Amazon’s three-part strategy under the Climate Pledge: emissions measurement, value chain decarbonization, and high-impact carbon mitigation. He describes Amazon’s major clean energy investments, its electric delivery fleet partnership with Rivian, and how it is developing long-term carbon credit procurement strategies. Jamey also walks through Amazon’s approach to addressing the credibility crisis in carbon markets, including its launch of the Abacus carbon credit label in partnership with Verra and other climate experts, and he explains how Amazon is working to improve access to quality carbon credits for its value chain partners. Lastly, Jamey shares his advice for those who are looking to work in the field of carbon neutralization. This is a bonus episode in our series on Voluntary Carbon Markets. Explore more of this series at climaterising.org