On March 1, 2024, JIRCAS and the Project Team (PT) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Open Lab Policy for Utilization of Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) in the Agricultural Sector jointly hosted the "Plenary Dialogue for Establishing Public-Private Partnership to Advance Utilization of Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) in the Agricultural Sector".

The purpose of the meeting was to promote public-private cooperation to advance the adoption of JCM in the agricultural sector. The event attracted over 130 participants, with approximately 50 attending in person and 80 participating online. Participants included representatives from MAFF, the Ministry of Environment, JIRCAS, and various private companies.

The session began with opening remarks from the PT mentors, Mr. AKIBA Kazuhiko, Councillor (Deputy Director-General for Technological and Environmental Affairs) of the MAFF, and Dr. HAYASHI Keiichi, Director of JIRCAS Environment Program. This was followed by a keynote address by Mr. TAKAHASHI Kentaro, Assistant Director, Office of Director for International Cooperation for Transition to Decarbonization and Sustainable Infrastructure, Global Environment Bureau of the Ministry of Environment.

In the second part of the session, Dr. MINAMIKAWA Kazunori, Senior Researcher at JIRCAS, gave a presentation entitled "Perspectives on Methodology for Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) of Paddy Water Management".

This was followed by a panel discussion in which four private companies participated as panelists and shared insights on their carbon crediting and offsetting initiatives. The panelists discussed the challenges and opportunities in generating agricultural and nature-based credits, considerations on the quality and pricing of carbon credits, strategies against greenwashing, and their expectations from the JCM.