AgreenaCarbon terms
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- AgreenaCarbon terms
- Introduction
1.1 Agreenacarbon is a Carbon Payment Programme with the objective of creating a payment and co-funding mechanism for farmers, landowners and other types of Programme participants to transition towards sustainable agricultural practises. The Programme utilizes a proprietary methodology integrated into a digital platform to capture data to quantify, monitor and verify GHG reductions and removals through adopting sustainable practises performed by participants in the Program.
All quantified GHG reductions and removals are verified by a 3rd party before carbon certificates are issued annually after harvest and completed verification.
1.2 The following binding Terms and Conditions govern your participation in the Agreenacarbon Programme, incl. the issuance of Agreenacarbon Certificates to You for your Contract(s). Please read on to find out more about your rights and obligations as a Participant under the Programme. Your signature to these Terms and Conditions is required to obtain Agreenacarbon Certificates.
- Purpose
2.1 The purpose of these Terms and Conditions is to provide the legal terms for the legally binding Contract between and among You and Agreena ApS (You and Agreena ApS together, “We”, “Us”, or “Our”) regarding your Agreenacarbon Contract.
- Your Agreenacarbon Contract(s)
3.1 This Contract applies to your Agreenacarbon Contracts in your account on the Platform.
3.2 Agreena offers the contract types that are described on the Platform. You sign up to contract type when You sign this Contract.
- Your role and obligations
4.1 Your role in the Programme is primarily:
- Registration of relevant areas of land into the Programme (initial registration) including ensuring that initial registrations are correct, and that the GHG effect in scope is not sold/acclaimed to other 3rd parties or other GHG certification programs (double selling and -claiming).
- Annual registration of data for planned and actual executed field management strategies into the digital Platform.
- Continuous compliance with these Terms and Condition, including avoiding carbon reversals or losses by complying with the minimum adherence policy (the Minimum Standards – available for reference on the digital Platform).
Agreena ·Nyhavn 43A, st. · DK-1051 København · support@agreena.dk
4.2 During the Crediting Term of the Contract You shall carefully and diligently comply with the processes and requirements in the Programme and this Contract. The processes are described here.
4.3 After the end of the Crediting Term of the Contract and until the end of the Permanence period applicable to your Certificates, You shall maintain, preserve and protect the soil carbon sequestration that You have achieved during the Crediting Term.
- Agreena’s role and obligations
5.1 Agreena is the Program manager, which includes the following obligations:
- Design and development of the Programme – including calibration of project Contracts, eligibility and features of the resulting Certificates.
- Development and operation of the Agreenacarbon digital Platform to capture data on performed practices and boundary information.
- Establishment and continuous development of the Agreenacarbon methodology incl. the GHG quantification and coverage.
- Develop and operate the MRV-framework (Monitoring, Reporting and Verification) – utilizing technology in combination with on-site inspections, while ensuring continuous validity of issued Certificates utilizing the dynamics of the Buffer Pool.
- Organize 3rd party verification of the Programme to avoid direct verification costs on project Participants.
- Develop and operate a digital Public Ledger containing origin- and ownership information on all issued Certificates.
- Offering brokerage service (OTC and through a marketplace) as a means for program Participants to monetize issued Certificates,
5.2 Agreena is obliged to issue the Certificates to You pursuant to the terms of the Contract.
- Eligibility
6.1 To participate in the Programme, You and your Contract(s) must always meet the following eligibility criteria during the Crediting Term:
6.1.1 You shall have the legal right to cultivate the field(s) that You have submitted as part of this Contract in accordance with the requirements in the Programme;
6.1.2 You shall adhere to Agreena’s Minimum Standards; and
6.1.3 You shall adhere to Agreena’s processes.
- Enrolment
7.1 Your enrolment in the Programme and Contract applications are done exclusively over the Platform.
7.2 You are required to attest on the Platform, if You plan to apply, have applied for and been listed, registered and/or been issued GHG emission reduction or removal credits, biodiversity credits or any other ecological credit through any other GHG emissions program, biodiversity program or any other certification program. You must include detailed information on any such credit issuances and information on any rejections of applications with other registries. Agreena will review the information provided by You and approve/reject concurrent registration with other registries/programs. Concurrent program registrations may be allowed by Agreena under certain conditions at Agreena’s sole discretion.
- Fees
8.1 Your payment of issuance fees to Agreena is done by placing a percentage of issued Certificates from your Contract with Agreena. You irrevocably mandate Agreena to place these Certificates in Agreena’s account(s) on the Platform.
8.2 Additional fees may be payable for services and products delivered by Agreena to You. These fees are described on the Platform. Agreena will give You three (3) months prior written notice over the Platform and/or to the e-mail that You have registered on the Platform before charging You such additional fees.
8.3 Your participation in the Programme, including your right to obtain and keep Certificates, assumes your continued timely payment of subscription fees for the Agreena Platform. Your failure to pay such subscription fees constitutes a breach of these Terms and Conditions. See the Terms and Conditions for the Agreena Platform here.
- Risks and uncertainties
9.1 By signing this Contract, You specifically acknowledge that You have read and understood the potential downsides, uncertainties and risks associated with the Programme. These are described and explained on the digital Platform.
- Your compliance with the Terms and Conditions and the Programme is important
10.1 You agree that the integrity of the Programme relies on your proper performance of the Programme and your compliance with these Terms and Conditions. Your non-compliance, which is not fully remedied within sixty (60) calendar days after receipt of non-compliance notice from Agreena hereof specifying the details of the non-compliance, constitutes your material breach of these Terms and Conditions as explained in further detail in Clause 22 below.
10.2 You are responsible and liable for your negligent and intentional non-compliance with and breach of the Programme and this Contract.
10.3 You shall report any non-compliance with the Programme or your breach of this Contract, or your suspicion that You might be in non-compliance or breach, to Agreena within thirty (30) calendar days of your discovery.
- Issuance and Certificates
11.1 Certificates are issued ex-post, i.e., Certificates reflect GHG emission removals and reductions achieved by You by soil carbon sequestration during the previous harvest season(s).
11.2 One (1) Certificate represents one (1) ton carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
11.3 Issued Certificates are owned by the entity that is registered by name as owner in the Agreenacarbon Public Ledger in accordance with Agreena’s requirements.
11.4 Certificates are not securities, and not bearer securities. Transfer of ownership to Certificates is only valid when duly registered in the Public Ledger.
11.5 Agreena assumes no liability for the accuracy and completeness of data entered by You or your agent on the Platform.
11.6 Certificates cannot be pledged to third parties as security or otherwise function as security. The Public Ledger does not register such rights. You may not use Certificates to create derivates, futures or similar financial arrangements outside the Public Ledger.
11.7 Certificates carry a unique electronic identifier in the Public Ledger. You may not change, amend or adjust, or attempt to change amend or adjust, issued Certificates.
11.8 You are required to submit and attest the information set out in Clause 7.2 in the Platform again before Agreena’s issuance of Certificates.
- Double Issuance, Double Sale, and Double Claiming shall be avoided and is strictly forbidden
12.1 Double Issuance, Double Sale, and Double Claiming of Certificates is strictly forbidden, and Agreena will cancel all your issued Certificates (vested and non-vested) due to breach, if You attempt to, cause or complete such double-issuance, double-selling and/or double claiming of Certificates.
- Vesting
13.1 Your choice of vesting period is set out in the Contract and available on your account on the Platform.
13.2 Non-vested Certificates are placed in a separate account on the Platform with Agreena as owner and controller, and with You as beneficiary in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. Vested Certificates are released from this separate account to your account on the Platform in accordance with the applicable vesting curve and these Terms and Conditions. Non-vested, issued Certificates will be transferred to the Buffer Pool in case of your termination in accordance with Clause 23.1 or your breach of this Contract.
- Buffer Pool
14.1 You agree and acknowledge that each time Agreena issues Certificates for emissions reductions achieved by a Contract, Agreena is entitled to automatically deduct a percentage of the calculated issuance. Such deduction shall be used for contribution to the Buffer Pool. For each contribution, Agreena places the deduced percentage in an account on the Platform to cover for non-Permanence risks and structural and systematic GHG risks and uncertainties. The applicable percentage depends on your choice of contract type.
14.2 In the event that emissions reductions from a Contract are reversed, Agreena will promptly cancel the equivalent number of Certificates from the Buffer Pool.
14.3 You understand and agree that Agreena holds all rights to, ownership of and control over the Buffer Pool and the Certificates held in same. Nothing in this Contract shall give You any right to, ownership of or control over the Buffer Pool or the Certificates held by the Buffer Pool at any time.
14.4 You agree that Agreena may sell or otherwise dispose of Certificates held in the Buffer Pool at any time without further notice to You. You agree that Agreena may sell or otherwise dispose of Certificates in the Buffer Pool to replenish your cancelled Certificates to buyers, who have bought cancelled Certificates.
14.5 Agreena may, from time to time and with at least three (3) months’ prior written notice to You over the Platform and/or to the e-mail You have registered on the Platform, change the required Buffer Pool contribution percentage if Agreena determines, in its sole discretion, that the contribution percentage should be modified.
- Property rights
15.1 You understand and agree that Agreena holds all rights to, ownership of and control over the Certificates that You have used as payment to Agreena pursuant to these Terms and Conditions. Nothing in this Contract shall give You any right to, ownership of or control over said Certificates at any time. You agree that Agreena may sell or otherwise dispose of such Certificates at any time without further notice to You.
15.2 Issued Certificates for your Contract, which are not encompassed by Clause 14 or 15.1, are owned by You with the rights and obligations contained in this Contract.
- Data and Intellectual Property
16.1 Data that You have uploaded to the Platform or otherwise provided for processing by the Platform is owned by You. You grant Agreena a royalty free, perpetual, non-revocable and worldwide license to use, copy and transfer your data as required to provide the services on the Platform and the Programme. Agreena will not use your name, company name or farm name for marketing purposes to promote Agreena or a buyer of Certificates unless You have explicitly accepted this in writing.
16.2 You recognize that Agreena holds all intellectual property rights in and to the Programme and the Platform (including the software forming part of the Platform). This also applies to any changes, adjustments etc. to the Programme and the Platform.
16.3 You may not sell, lease, lend, permit the use of or in any other way assign or pass on the right of use of the Platform to any third party. You may not break or change any codes to the Platform or change or remove any marks and/or notices concerning copyright, trademarks or other rights, or references hereto.
16.4 Use of the Platform contrary to this Clause 16 constitutes a breach of these Terms and Conditions, cf. Clause 22.
16.5 Agreena’s processing of personal data is done in accordance with Agreena’s Privacy Policy.
- Monitoring, validation, and audits
17.1 You agree that Agreena and/or Agreena’s subcontractors are entitled to monitor and validate your compliance with the Programme and these Terms and Conditions, including your submitted data and real-world outcomes, e.g., through data and satellite powered verification, on-farm audit controls and various reference controls.
17.2 You agree that the performance of the Programme requires Agreena and/or Agreena’s subcontractors be granted access and right to inspect all relevant farms and sites and facilities. You agree that You will provide all relevant documents and information to Agreena and/or Agreena’s subcontractors during such farm and site visits. To this purpose, You shall in a timely manner provide Agreena and/or its subcontractors with all reasonably necessary access to your sites and facilities and provide any and all relevant and correct and complete documentation and information required for the Programme.
17.3 You shall promptly inform Agreena of any actual or likely delay in necessary access to relevant sites or facilities, or delay or change in information provided by You for the Programme.
17.4 Agreena is entitled to rely on the accuracy and completeness of any information provided by You, and You are responsible for the consequences of any defects, discrepancies, errors, inconsistencies or omissions in any of such provided information.
17.5 Should You fail to provide Agreena with the required timely access or information or documentation, or the provided information or documentation is defect or the like, Agreena may in its sole discretion inform You of the incident and suspend the Contract pending your provision of access and/or complete or correct information or documentation.
17.6 If significant discrepancies are identified in the automated and data driven verification method, fields will be taken out for manual control and audit. This happens both where discrepancies would lead to significant deductions in the estimated GHG reduction/removal potential, and to ensure that non-compliance is properly addressed. Audits and controls can be performed both on-farm and virtually depending on the significance and contextual factors. During an audit, stakeholders like a certified advisor can be used to potentially justify identified discrepancies.
17.7 You shall bear your own costs, expenditures and loss caused directly or indirectly by the enforcement of the terms of this Clause 17, and You agree that You waive any claim against Agreena for such costs, expenditures, or loss.
17.8 Your failure to comply with this Clause 17 constitutes a breach of these Terms and Conditions, cf. Clause 22.
- Sale of Agreenacarbon Certificates
18.1 Your sale of Certificates can be completed over the Platform or directly to a third party outside the Platform.
18.2 You shall register the change of ownership and title to Certificates in the Public Ledger.
- Representations and warranties
19.1 You represent and warrant to Agreena at the time of signing of these Terms and Conditions and during the Crediting Term that (i) the signatory/signatories on these Terms and Conditions has/have sufficient authority to legally bind You to these Terms and Conditions, (ii) the Terms and Conditions can be legally enforced against You in case of your breach of any of the provisions in these Terms and Conditions, (iii) your Contract, incl. the farm land and soil in your Contract, is free and clear of any encumbrances and rights of third parties such as, but not limited to, ownership, title and property rights, security or pledge or lien, which conflict with your obligations under these Terms and Conditions, (iv) that You will not use or attempt to use Certificates or funds obtained from the sale of Certificates for money laundering or terrorist financing or for activities prohibited by applicable rules on international trade restriction, export control and/or sanctions, and (v) that You will carefully and diligently adhere to Agreena’s applicable Know Your Customer procedures.
19.2 Your breach of the representations and warranties in Clause 19.1 constitutes a breach of this Contract.
- Crediting Term
20.1 The Programme includes several available Crediting Terms for Certificates. The Crediting Term options are available on the Platform, and you sign up to a Crediting Term for your Certificates when you submit your application for your Contract on the Platform.
20.2 The Crediting Term for your Contract is set out in the Contract.
- Renewal
21.1 You can renew your Contract twice, however subject to Agreena’s review and acceptance of your application(s) for renewal.
- Your breach of these Terms and Conditions
22.1 Your material breach of your obligations in the Programme and/or these Terms and Condition may result in Your Agreenacarbon Certificates being cancelled by Agreena.
Agreena will give You notice of your breach to your registered e-mail address on the Platform. Agreena may give You up to sixty (60) calendar days’ notice to remedy your breach, in which case your Certificates will not be cancelled if You successfully remedy your breach within said notice period.
22.2 Material breach of your obligations include (but is not limited to) the following:
- Your breach of your obligations pursuant to Clauses 8.3, 10, 12.1, 16.4, 17.8, 19.2, 26.4 and/or 28.1;
- Your non-compliance with your obligations under the Programme, including the Minimum Standards;
- You fail to meet one or more of the Eligibility requirements in Clause 6 during the Crediting Term;
- If a project is suspended and You fail to remedy your breach or non-compliance within sixty (60) calendar days as explained in Clause 24.1.3;
- You cancel or terminate the Contract prematurely, as set out in Clause 23.1 and You fail to subscribe to the Monitoring Service to comply with permanence requirements throughout the Crediting Term;
- You have submitted fraudulent data; and
- You have submitted repeatedly erroneous data;
22.3 Agreena will not refund any fees, Certificates or other fees or charges to You in case of your breach of your obligations under these Terms and Conditions, and You will have no claim against Agreena for any act or omission which lead to or caused your breach of these Terms and Conditions.
- Termination before expiry of the Crediting Term
23.1 Termination by You. Your termination of your involvement in the Contract prior to the expiry of the Crediting Term has the consequences set out in Clauses 13.2 and 23.3, unless You subscribe to Agreena’s Monitoring Service. OBS. Final terms for the Monitoring service will be accessible on the digital platform, but are currently to be defined for harvest year 2022 when the service will be activated. The cost of the service is estimated at approximately €5 per hectare.
23.2 Termination by Agreena. Agreena is entitled to terminate this Contract before expiry of the applicable Crediting Term, incl. all issued (vested and non-vested) Certificates, and your enrolment under and eligibility for the Programme with immediate effect if You materially breach your obligations under these Terms and Conditions by giving You written notice of such termination to the email address You have registered on the Platform.
23.3 Termination in accordance with Clauses 23.1 and 23.2 have the following consequences:
- Ends your participation in the Agreenacarbon Programme with immediate effect; • All Certificates in your account on the Platform are cancelled immediately;
- The consequences set out in Clause 22, if this Contract is terminated by Agreena due to your breach;
- You are required to either (i) replace cancelled Certificates with other certificates with similar characteristics from other Agreenacarbon projects (own or from third party), or (ii) compensate Agreena the value of cancelled Certificates (issued up to thirty six (36) months prior to termination) set at the actual sales price for the cancelled Certificates, alternatively (at Agreena’s sole discretion) at the average sales price for similar certificates over the Platform; and
- You may at Agreena’s reasonable discretion be restricted from applying for new Contracts.
23.3.1 Agreena’s termination will be registered by Agreena in the Public Ledger.
23.3.2 You will remain liable for all outstanding payments or fees due and owing to Agreena as of the date of termination.
- Agreena may suspend your Contract
24.1.1 Agreena is entitled to suspend your Contract pending Agreena’s investigation of your suspected non-compliance with the Programme and/or this Contract.
24.1.2 Agreena will not issue Certificates under suspended Contracts.
24.1.3 Agreena will inform You of the results of Agreena’s investigation via the Platform, and You will be offered sixty (60) calendar days to full remedy the non-compliance or breach, if such non-compliance or breach is curable, before Agreena issues notice of termination to You in accordance with Clause 23.2.
- Indemnifications
25.1 You agree and acknowledge that You shall indemnify on claims made basis, and hold Agreena and its officers and employees harmless for any financial loss (direct and indirect), claim (from third parties), damage and consequential damage in tort and contract, fees, defence costs (incl. attorneys’ fees), costs and expenses caused by your breach of these Terms and Conditions, including, but not limited to, breach of the representation and warranties and your breach of third party’s intellectual property rights. You shall indemnify, defend and hold Agreena harmless from any loss or damage related to or arising out of any abuse of the Certificates issued under the Contract. Agreena reserves the right to independently handle all legal defence responsibilities in our sole discretion, and You further agree to cooperate with us so we can execute our legal strategy.
25.2 The indemnities set out above shall apply howsoever to any relevant claims, damages, losses or expenses may arise and regardless whether under contract, tort (including negligence) strict liability or otherwise, except if and to the extent caused by Agreena’s: (i) intentional and wrongful act or omission with the intent to inflict damage or injury; (ii) act or omission in disregard of a known or obvious risk which makes it highly probable that harm would follow; (iii) act or omission with conscious indifference to the outcome; (iv) any circumstances for which Agreena may not lawfully limit its liability under the applicable law.
25.3 You shall notify Agreena without undue delay upon becoming aware of any incident likely to give rise to a claim against You in relation to these Terms and Conditions.
- Limitations of Liability
26.1 In no event shall Agreena’s liability arising out of or related to this Contract and the Programme exceed DKK sixty thousand (60,000.00).
26.2 In no event shall Agreena have any liability for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, however caused and on any theory of liability, whether for breach of contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, arising out of or related to these Terms and Conditions, including but not limited to loss of anticipated profits (including, but not limited to, expected crop yield) or loss of any commodity or equipment (including, but not limited to, lost investments in agricultural machinery or similar investments), even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
26.3 You shall comply with all laws and regulations related to the activities of the Programme. Agreena is neither responsible nor liable for your non-compliance with regulatory requirements for which You are or become responsible or liable due to the signing or completion of your obligations under this Contract.
26.4 Participants are required to provide attestation of regulatory compliance in connection with enrolment to the Programme and during the yearly verification. The attestation criteria are found on the Platform. Agreena may decide on a case-by-case basis that your regulatory non compliance or the reasonable suspicion of your regulatory non-compliance triggers the cancellation or suspension of your participation in the Programme or the cancellation of issued Certificates.
26.5 You understand and agree that the market value of Certificates is outside Agreenas risk and control and that Agreena is not responsible or liable for the market value of your Certificates. Agreena makes no explicit or implicit guarantees or warranties as to the supply, demand, or market pricing of Certificates.
- Tax, VAT, notary fees etc.
27.1 We are each solely responsible and liable for payment of Our own taxes, VAT, duties and other similar costs, such as notary fees or other costs required by public authorities or the law caused by the signing and/or execution of this Contract.
- Assignment, transfer and adjustment
28.1 You may not assign or transfer your rights and obligations pursuant to these Terms and Conditions to any third party without Agreena’s prior written consent. Transfer in violation of this Clause constitutes your breach of these Terms and Conditions.
28.2 Agreena may transfer its rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions to one or more third parties without your consent and without prior notice to You.
28.3 Agreena is entitled to adjust the Programme and the Contract to comply with regulatory rules and standards if deemed appropriate and necessary by Agreena. Agreena will give You prior written notice of such adjustments and the consequences hereof for You and the Contract with no less than three (3) months prior written notice over the Platform and/or to the e-mail You have registered on the Platform. You agree and acknowledge, that Agreena’s said adjustments are allowed under this Contract and do not entitle You to terminate the Contract or to any claim against Agreena in that regard.
- General Provisions
29.1 If any part of these Terms and Conditions is found to be unenforceable, that part will be limited to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining provisions will be in full force and effect.
29.2 Agreena’s failure to enforce any part of these Terms and Conditions is not a waiver of Agreena’s right to later enforce that or any other part.
29.3 Notices from Agreena to You pursuant to these Terms and Condition may be sent to You via the Platform and/or to the e-mail address that You have registered on the Platform. Notices sent by Agreena in accordance with the foregoing are deemed to be received by You at the time and date registered in Agreenas e-mail system and/or in the Platform.
- Dispute Resolution
30.1 Governing Law. These Terms and Conditions and Certificates shall be governed by the substantive laws of Denmark, without regard to CISG and conflict of laws rules. These laws will apply no matter where in the world You are established, have your business or live.
30.2 Venue. Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Contract, including any disputes regarding the existence, validity or termination thereof, shall be settled by arbitration administrated by The Danish Institute of Arbitration in accordance with the rules of arbitration procedure adopted by The Danish Institute of Arbitration and in force at the time when such proceedings are commenced. The arbitral tribunal shall be composed of three arbitrators. The place of arbitration shall be Copenhagen, and the language to be used in the arbitral proceedings shall be English.
30.3 Certification During Legal Proceedings. Agreena may, at its sole discretion suspend your Contract(s) during legal proceedings by giving You written notice hereof.
- Definitions
Buffer Pool means a dedicated holding account operated and maintained by Agreena. Its purpose is to ensure the Permanence of emissions reductions that have been certified by Agreena. The Buffer Pool serves as a tool to mitigate the general and project-specific risk factors, including the overall uncertainty risk in GHG estimations in addition to the GHG quantification methodology and applied deductions in the Programme.
Certificates means certificates issued by Agreena to You for your approved Contracts under the Programme.
Agreenacarbon Public Ledger means the publicly available on-online registry of Certificates and ownership rights and title to Certificates.
The Public Ledger is provided, operated and maintained by Agreena pursuant to the Public Ledger terms and conditions found here.
Agreena means Agreena ApS, a company incorporated in Denmark with company registration number 39467275, with its registered address at Nyhavn 43A, st. t.h., DK 1051 København K
Contract means this legally binding agreement between Us, including the documents and terms referenced to with hyperlinks.
Crediting Term means the periodic length of a Contract.
Double Claiming means an instance in which an issued Certificate is used by the same buyer toward more than one target (e.g., under systems that are not linked, do not coordinate, or may have inconsistent rules for reporting and/or retirement).
Double Issuance means (i) a situation in which more than one carbon credit is issued for the same emissions or emission reductions, and (ii) the registration of the same project under two different carbon crediting programs or twice under the same program.
Double Sale means an instance in which a single GHG reduction or removal is sold to more than one buyer at a given time.
GHG Green House Gasses.
Participant means You.
Permanence means the risk that a carbon reservoir may be subject to gradual long-term or sudden disruptive release that will reverse the benefit that occurred as a result of Contract implementation.
Platform means the Agreena internet platform found here.
Programme means the Agreenacarbon program, which is designed to promote and drive wide mobilization for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, and which is further described here, including the Programme’s Minimum
Standards and processes, which You shall comply with and observe.
We, Us or Our means You and Agreena together.
You means the legal entity identified on at the top of this Contract.