According to a report published by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), technical solutions for methane mitigation are already well established in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
This included alternate wetting and drying (AWD), mid‑season drainage, direct‑seeded rice, improved straw management, and site‑specific nutrient management.
After assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory systems and MRV frameworks in the three ASEAN countries, it concluded that the absence of credible, scalable MRV systems was hindering any progress from these efforts.
“The main bottleneck is not only technical measurement of greenhouse gases. It is the full MRV chain. Countries must monitor activity data consistently, report it in standardised formats, validate it across agencies and administrative levels, and verify outcomes through trusted and affordable systems,” the researchers assessed.
It emphasised that MRV had a vital role in achieving national climate commitments and accessing climate finance and argued that it should be treated as enabling infrastructure rather than a compliance burden.
Without credible MRV, countries cannot access higher-integrity carbon markets, structure Article 6 transactions confidently or justify concessional support.
Uneven and fragmented
While all three countries have made progress integrating MRV into national climate governance, rice-sector systems have remained uneven and fragmented in the rice sector,
In rice, this is especially difficult because emissions vary across seasons, irrigation regimes, crop establishment methods, soil conditions, residue management, and local weather patterns.
As a result, weak or incomplete activity data significantly undermines the credibility of emissions estimates.
“Stronger MRV for rice therefore requires both better emissions estimation and better tracking of what farmers actually do in the field.”
However, the report acknowledged that MRV costs are too high, especially in smallholder systems. This makes programmes difficult to scale and unattractive to investors.
Establishing baselines, databases, monitoring infrastructure and verification capacity requires substantial upfront investment, while ongoing costs for data collection, audits and reporting can remain high throughout a project’s life.
These challenges are compounded by the limited availability of accredited verification bodies with agricultural expertise and the fragmented nature of smallholder rice production.
Mitigating the cost barrier
Digital tools offer a pathway to lower costs and improve transparency, but only if embedded in coherent governance frameworks.
Remote sensing, digital logbooks, artificial intelligence and IoT-enabled irrigation monitoring can reduce transaction costs, but still require harmonised data standards, institutional ownership, quality control and independent verification.
Financing remained yet another constraint.
Climate finance for rice methane abatement remains well below what is needed, partly because rice projects are perceived as costly and difficult to verify.
The report called for blended financing models that combine concessional public funding for MRV and capacity building with domestic policy alignment and market-based incentives.
It highlighted that carbon credits alone would be unlikely to shift farmer behaviour at scale.
“Farmer participation will depend on a broader package of incentives, including access to machinery and irrigation services, reduced production risk, premium markets for certified low-emission rice, payments for verified practice change, and income opportunities from straw valorisation and other circular-economy activities.
“In this respect, MRV must be linked not only to carbon markets, but also to the rice value chain.”
Clear rules on carbon rights and benefit sharing are also critical as countries expand participation in voluntary and compliance markets.
Without legal clarity on ownership, transfer and use of mitigation outcomes, both investors and farmers face uncertainty, particularly in smallholder systems.
The report concluded that countries should move from fragmented pilot projects to phased, investment-ready national rice MRV strategies.
“This is not only a technical reform agenda. It is a governance, finance, and implementation agenda.”
Current GHG data collection systems and integrating MRV systems in climate finance in the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam
Tobiah Rey Gonzalez, Katherine Nelson, Vorayuth Pakachaipong, Carlito Balingbing, Bjoern Ole Sander, Alisher Mirzabaev
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Baños, Philippines https://hdl.handle.net/10568/182402