How to start a GHG Project: The step-by-step guide for Project Developers and Reporting Companies

Are you a project developer who wants to make a climate impact through low-emission farming practices like improved fertilizers? Or a reporting company seeking to reduce Scope 3 emissions through credible insetting projects?

This is the step-by-step process to starting a GHG project with Proba, guided by the Proba Standard and methodologies. From feasibility to certification, from implementation to credit issuance. 

Understand your role and the ecosystem

Project developers are key to carbon projects. They initiate, coordinate, and manage the project end-to-end-from project idea to verified impact. In agri-food supply chains they engage with:

• Input suppliers who provide the improved solutions to farmers

• Farmers and farmer cooperatives who implement the new practices and collect data as part of the MRV processes

• Verification and validation bodies (VVBs) for independent auditing.

• Agri-buyers and reporting companies interested in using the emission reduction certificates to reduce their Scope 3 (usually more than 80% of their total footprint) .

• Us, to support certification and methodology guidance, including a digital platform for quantification, transparency and traceability.

No change, no impact

A real climate impact begins with one essential principle: something must actually change. Emission reductions don’t happen automatically — they result from purposeful interventions that wouldn’t occur without an actual project. This change must be carefully designed, implemented on the ground, and documented. Whether it’s switching to low-carbon fertilizers, using nitrogen inhibitors, or applying controlled-release fertilizers (CRF), these interventions form the backbone of your climate impact. The rest of the certification process exists to ensure that this change is real, measurable, and verifiable.

The certification process: your roadmap

Here’s a high-level overview of the project lifecycle. Not all steps are linear. Some can be done in parallel and revisited as the project matures. 

A. Scoping and designing your GHG project

Lay the foundation for your entire project: this phase is where the key decisions are made, and where the most fundamental planning work takes place, documented  in a Project Overview Document (POD), which captures all essential project details and sets the stage for validation, implementation, and crediting. Consider all of the stages mentioned below:

Project Design

The core deliverable is the Project Overview Document (POD). It defines the geographical and operational boundaries of the project and identifies key stakeholders and implementation partners, such as farmers, suppliers, or cooperatives. You'll also establish whether the project fits within an offsetting or insetting crediting framework, and describe the specific interventions you plan to implement.

To ensure credibility and alignment with best practices, your project design should follow an approved methodology that outlines how emission reductions will be calculated, monitored, and verified. In addition, the design process must include an additionality assessment to confirm that the project represents a genuine departure from business-as-usual, as well as a clear baseline scenario showing what would happen in the absence of the intervention. You'll quantify expected emission reductions, outline a monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework, and conduct a risk analysis to identify potential implementation challenges. Lastly, don’t forget to capture potential co-benefits, such as improved soil health, water efficiency, or social impact, to strengthen the project's overall value.

Proba has developed a POD template to get you up and running quickly. 

Methodology selection

If working in the agri-food industry with fertilizer-focused interventions, you can choose an existing Proba-approved methodology (e.g., for improved fertilizer technologies), or collaborate with us to develop a new one if your project requires a novel approach. Methodology choice impacts how baselines, emission reductions, quantifications, and MRV plans are structured.

Platform Onboarding

To manage all stages of your project, from design to certificate issuance, it is convenient to have one location to do it all. We at Proba offer our Proba Platform for each project stage. Next to table stake features to support transparency, data integrity and traceability, our platform helps quantify the impact of your interventions, making it really specific for the project context. 

B. Validating your GHG project

Once your GHG project is carefully designed, it’s time to put it to the test — literally. Validation is the gateway to credibility, and it’s your first big milestone in the certification journey.

Begin by ensuring your project aligns with the Proba Standard. This means checking eligibility criteria — the backbone that ensures your work qualifies for emission reduction certificates. Intentions aren’t enough; it’s about measurable impact.

Next, open your project for public consultation with a 30-day consultation period. This is your opportunity to invite external feedback, foster transparency, and gain valuable perspectives from peers, experts, and even skeptics. Think of it as a real-world stress test — a chance to refine your approach before moving forward with validation.

Then comes your partnership with an accredited Validation and Verification Body (VVB). You’ll contract a VVB to carry out an independent review of your Project Overview Document (POD) and the estimated emission reductions you’re aiming for. 

C. Implementing the project

It’s time to bring your project to life on the ground. If your project is a fertilizer-focused intervention, you will be engaging, training, and contracting farmers to participate in the transition to improved practices. 

You have coordinated with your input suppliers to ensure that improved fertilizers or other inputs are ready to roll out. 

Then comes the moment where science and fieldwork meet: MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification). Begin collecting data according to your monitoring plan, MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) is key.

Finally, bring in the VVB for verification. They’ll assess the actual outcomes of your project against your estimates - successful reductions mean your emission reduction certificates can be issued. 

D. The final step: claiming emission reductions through insetting

Insetting means that the buyers of emission reduction certificates are typically downstream partners: companies that purchase the crops, food ingredients, or products produced by farmers involved in the project. Their role goes beyond funding: it's a long-term collaboration aimed at achieving measurable Scope 3 emission reductions in the supply chain.

Once the certificates are issued, they’re retired on behalf of these downstream partners, creating a transparent, auditable record of impact. While Proba doesn’t act as a broker, we help you align your project with the right partners — those committed to responsible sourcing and supply chain decarbonization.

Downstream buyers benefit by integrating verified reductions into their GHG accounting and ESG disclosures. They typically do this in one of two ways:

• Report absolute emission reductions: Buyers attribute the total volume of CO₂-equivalent reductions to their own Scope 3 footprint, demonstrating clear progress in supply chain decarbonization.

• Apply updated emission factors (EFs): Buyers use lower EFs for specific crops or sourcing regions, embedding the project’s impact directly into product-level carbon footprints.

Insetting brings more than carbon benefits. Emission reductions mean, shared responsibility, and stronger supplier relationships — all while advancing real climate action that supports both environmental and business goals.

Final Thoughts

Starting a project can feel overwhelming—but it doesn’t have to be. Proba combines a robust certification framework, user-friendly digital tools, and expert guidance to help project developers and reporting companies unlock real climate impact through insetting.

Ready to start your journey? Reach out.