The short answer. An avoidance or reduction credit stands for emissions that were prevented. A removal credit stands for carbon taken out of the atmosphere and stored. Soil carbon credits are removals: the carbon is stored in the soil, which is nature-based storage that can be reversed, so credible soil carbon credits come with ongoing monitoring and a buffer. For a buyer, what matters is what the tonne is, how it was measured and what happens if the carbon is lost.
Last reviewed September 2026. Standards change: check the current version of any standard before you rely on it.
Two kinds of tonne
- Reduction or avoidance. Emissions that would otherwise have happened are prevented, for example by replacing a fossil fuel or protecting a forest that was going to be cleared. Nothing is taken out of the atmosphere.
- Removal. Carbon dioxide is taken out of the atmosphere and stored, in soil, trees, products or rock.
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) draws the same line in its Core Carbon Principles: a reduction is a net reduction in emissions by sources, and a removal is a net enhancement of removals by sinks. Either way, one credit is one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, measured against a baseline.
Why the difference matters to a buyer
- Net zero needs removals. The Oxford Offsetting Principles (revised 2024) call for companies to shift towards removals for their remaining emissions, reaching all removals by net zero. The SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard requires remaining emissions to be neutralised with removals at net zero.
- Reporting separates them. EU climate reporting under ESRS E1 asks companies in scope to show how the credits they buy split between reductions and removals, and between nature-based and technological removals.
- The storage matters as well as the type. A removal is only as good as how long the carbon stays stored and what happens if it is released.
Durable and reversible removals
Standards group removals by how long the carbon is likely to stay stored. The SBTi describes long-lived removals as storing carbon for centuries to millennia, and short-lived removals for decades to centuries. The Oxford Principles use durable storage for the centuries-to-millennia end, such as geological storage.
Soil carbon is biological storage. It can last, if the land is well managed, but it can also be released by a change in land use, a change in management or a run of hard weather. ICVCM lists agricultural soil carbon among the activities with a material risk of reversal, and credible soil carbon credits deal with that risk in two ways: the land is monitored after credits are issued, and a share of credits is held back in a buffer pool to cover losses. Under our methodology, 20% of credits go into the buffer.
Removals inside a supply chain
Soil carbon removals happen on the farms that grow food, so a food or drink company can find them inside its own supply chain. That changes how they can be used. The SBTi FLAG guidance allows removals on land within a company’s supply chain to count towards its land sector target when the requirements of the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard are met. It also says purchased credits cannot be used as offsets to meet near-term targets, and land-based removals that are credited and sold as offsets cannot be used to meet FLAG targets. The same tonne cannot be used twice.
Questions to ask about any removal credit
- Was the carbon measured or modelled? Soil samples analysed in a laboratory, or an estimate from practices and a model. If sampled, to what depth and how often.
- How is the uncertainty handled? Is the error of the result measured, stated and deducted before credits are issued?
- Are the project’s own emissions deducted? A removal from a farm should be net of what the farm emits.
- How long is the carbon monitored, and what covers a loss? Ask for the monitoring period, the size of the buffer and what happens if carbon is lost.
- Who verified it, and can you read the report? Ask which body verified the results and where the verification report is published.
- Where is the credit issued and retired? Ask which registry holds it and whether it will be retired in your name.
- Could the tonne be counted twice? For example in a supplier’s own inventory as well as your offset claim.
How Ecometric credits are made
- Measured, not modelled. Real soil samples on every farm, analysed by dry combustion in a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, tied to satellite imagery at 100 mapped values a hectare.
- Every year. Each round is sampled at the same point in the year, so a loss shows up in the year it happens.
- The error comes off. The error is measured against samples the AI never saw and deducted before credits are calculated.
- Emissions come off. Credits are issued for each tonne sequestered after greenhouse gas emissions are deducted.
- Only new gains count. Credits are only issued for carbon above the highest stock of any earlier round, and 20% of credits are held in the buffer pool.
- Published methodology. Our methodology and credit class are public on the Regen Registry.
Questions we are asked about removal and avoidance credits
Is a soil carbon credit a removal or an avoidance credit?
A removal. It stands for carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere and stored in the soil. Because soil storage can be reversed, soil carbon credits come with monitoring and a buffer pool.
Are removal credits better than avoidance credits?
They do different jobs. Both can fund real climate action. Net zero frameworks ask for remaining emissions to be balanced with removals, so removals matter more as companies approach net zero. Within either type, quality varies a great deal, so how the tonne was measured, verified and protected matters as much as which type it is.
What is a durable carbon removal?
A removal where the carbon is expected to stay stored for a very long time, usually described as centuries to millennia, such as carbon stored in rock. Biological storage such as soil and trees is generally treated as less durable, because it can be reversed.
Can soil carbon credits be reversed?
The carbon behind them can be lost, through a change in land use or management or hard weather. That is why credited land keeps being monitored and a share of credits is held in a buffer pool to cover losses.
Can I use soil carbon credits towards my SBTi target?
Not as offsets. The SBTi says purchased carbon credits cannot be used as offsets to meet near-term targets, and credited land-based removals sold as offsets cannot count towards FLAG targets. Removals inside your own supply chain can count towards a FLAG target when the GHG Protocol land sector standard’s requirements are met. Check the current SBTi guidance for your own case.
How do I buy soil carbon credits from Ecometric projects?
See how our credits are made and sold, or contact us and tell us whether you are buying for your own supply chain or for your wider climate commitments.
Sources: ICVCM Core Carbon Principles and CCP Book; Oxford Offsetting Principles (revised 2024); SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 (June 2026) and FLAG Guidance v1.2 (March 2026); GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard. All checked 14 September 2026.
Related: for buyers · carbon credit ratings explained · how carbon credits are verified · the soil carbon glossary
