You've hit the proverbial nail on the head there. The technical language is the measurement, verification and reporting system, the MRVs, to measure both the additional carbon that is sequestered by, say, a change in management practices, as well as the permanence of that carbon in the soil.
Up until now, most of the MRVs have been based on audits. They have been cumbersome and extremely expensive to administer. It costs more to administer them than the value of the carbon at current carbon market prices. However, I am pretty optimistic that with a bit of a sprint and some concerted effort, we could move an MRV out of the field and into a remote sensing process. Really, what we need to be working towards is what they call “passive collection”, meaning satellite imagery tied with soil science monitors through an Internet of things network. It's the sort of stuff that GIFS and Steve work on. I know we're working on it. The Royal Bank project that I alluded to is very focused on this stuff.
Over the next two or three years, can we marshal the science to move MRVs from a ground level, ground truth monitoring system to something than can be done by remote sensing? The short answer is yes, but it's still going to take a little bit of work. The academics I work with are very keen to work with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Living Labs network to further that.