Watershed, AdAstra to open-source Orbae land use change data

Watershed and AdAstra Sustainability said they will open-source the pipeline behind Orbae, a leading land use change emissions dataset, through the Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative. The move comes as new Greenhouse Gas Protocol land-sector reporting rules raise the stakes for companies tracking emissions from agriculture and other high-risk commodities.

Why it matters: - Land use change can be the largest emissions line item for companies sourcing commodities like cocoa and other agricultural inputs. - The partnership aims to give companies, standard-setters and researchers a shared, transparent baseline for measuring land use change emissions. - The move could make it easier to verify progress against SBTi FLAG targets and prepare for new reporting requirements tied to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Land Sector and Removals Standard.

What happened: - Watershed and AdAstra Sustainability announced a partnership to jointly develop an open-source pipeline for direct land use change data under Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative. - Orbae, AdAstra’s land use change emissions dataset, is already used by food and agriculture leaders including Danone and ofi. - The announcement comes as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Land Sector and Removals Standard, published in early 2026, begins its implementation timeline. - Companies will need to measure land use change emissions starting Jan. 1, 2027, for compliant reporting in 2028.

The details: - Orbae’s jurisdictional direct land use change, or jdLUC, data and methodology have been openly accessible since early 2025. - The new step is to open-source the code behind the data pipeline. - Watershed and AdAstra said that will let the market verify, scrutinize and build on the methodology itself. - In 2027, the companies plan to open-source the next generation of direct land use change, or dLUC, data through Cornerstone. - That dataset will be built on a global land use change emissions layer and support farm-level assessment plus jurisdictional calculations covering more than 90% of global cropland. - Cornerstone’s first release under the partnership will be an open-source, LSRS-compliant global statistical land use change, or sLUC, dataset in 2026. - AdAstra also plans to release a “jdLUC proxy” later in 2026, with Cornerstone open-sourcing it in 2027. - jdLUC data, insights and visualizations will remain openly available in Orbae. - Cornerstone already houses other open datasets including USEEIO, CEDA, eGRID and the GHG Emissions Factor Hub. - Cornerstone launched in 2025 with a mission to preserve and expand access to foundational sustainability data. - The initiative was founded by ERG, The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability’s Sustainable Solutions Lab and Watershed.

Between the lines: - Open-sourcing the pipeline goes beyond publishing data and gives outside users a way to test the underlying science. - That matters in land use change because current datasets have often been incompatible, making comparisons and carbon-cost estimates harder to defend. - Watershed said the timing aligns with both SBTi FLAG targets and the new GHG Protocol land standard arriving at once. - AdAstra said a common language for land use change measurement would let the scientific community stress-test and improve the methodology.

What they said: - “For organizations sourcing high-risk commodities, land use change can be the largest single line in their footprint, and their best lever to decarbonize,” Michael Steffen, head of climate data at Watershed, said. - “It’s time for land use change measurement to move toward a common language everyone can build on,” Xavier Bengoa, co-founder and CEO of AdAstra Sustainability, said.

What’s next: - Watershed and AdAstra plan to open-source dLUC data in 2027 through Cornerstone. - The partners will release the sLUC dataset in 2026 and the jdLUC proxy later in 2026. - Cornerstone said the added Orbae dataset expands the open data resources available to companies measuring scope 1-3 emissions. - More information is available at Cornerstone’s dataset hub and Orbae.