Call for Grounded Engagement- Climate Week NYC

Shared principles for FLAG sector to focus on real impact in climate discussions and decisions

The Forest Land and Agriculture (FLAG) sector is the largest driver of ecosystem conversion and biodiversity loss and is responsible for roughly one-third of total global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions each year. Agriculture and land use change emissions within company value chains are estimated to be 10 GtCO2e per year by 2030, which account for nearly half of total global food system emissions. Yet this sector also has huge potential as a solution to climate and biodiversity crises and to support communities. In fact, agrifood systems are tightly linked to 80% of global potential for nature-based climate solutions and provide the livelihoods for more than 3.8 billion people.

As leading organisations working in global agriculture value chains, Conservation International, Environmental Defense Fund, IETA, the International Platform for Insetting, Proforest, The Nature Conservancy, Value Change Initiative and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, we are calling on policy makers, initiatives and companies to ensure their approaches to measure and reduce FLAG-related emissions advance the sector towards regenerative, nature-positive systems. While improving individual value chains in isolation is an important starting point, to truly benefit the communities that cultivate commodities, the ecosystems that support their growth, and the climate that governs their environment, the sector must focus on driving positive impacts across entire production landscapes. While current policies, standards and frameworks have motivated progress, there are still many opportunities for the leading corporate climate standards to galvanize the necessary scale-up of investment and action to achieve those holistic outcomes.

Three guiding principles to inspire meaningful engagement

The 2025 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 30 in Brazil is a key milestone to validate acceleration of our collective climate action. We share the following three principles to catalyse productive discussions and decisions on the implementation of climate action in the FLAG sector in the run-up to COP30.

1. We believe in driving transformation in the FLAG sector – rather than simply shifting value chains to meet climate goals, companies should invest in real and sustained action within, around and beyond their value chains to tackle the root causes of FLAG emissions and realize the benefits natural climate solutions can offer to the communities and biodiversity their value chains depend on.
2. We aim to ensure a just transition in the context of a changing climate – companies should partner with smallholder and disadvantaged producers to transform their value chains, not exclude them due to carbon accounting challenges.
3. We seek to maximise impact with efficient use of financial resources – companies should pragmatically leverage frameworks to resource interventions and strategies with a proven positive impact on the ground and avoid disproportionate investments in MRV, data and value chain management.

Our goal is to refocus the narrative to leverage ambitious corporate climate targets effectively to generate positive impacts on the ground.

Climate targets to drive investments into positive outcomes in production landscapes

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) FLAG Guidance and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance have the potential to incentivize and structure corporate climate action and have fast become potent tools that align with the global objective of limiting warming to 1.5ºC. Nevertheless, this call for pragmatic and ambitious engagement comes at a time when progress thus far has been slow, and investment is challenging to mobilize. To foster global FLAG sector transformation, regulation and standards need to effectively accommodate and incentivize action across complex and diverse agriculture systems.

Most new legislation and frameworks unrealistically rely on universal, simultaneous adoption, creating an incentive for early adopters to avoid high emitting commodities, suppliers, or sourcing regions, without making the investments needed to avoid further deforestation or promote sustainable land management. Meanwhile there is a significant climate finance gap in regions that most need finance for global mitigation and local adaptation. Private climate finance for the FLAG sector has remained extremely low, with reports of private investment outflows from critical small-scale agrifood systems.

Call for grounded engagement at Climate Week NYC in the run-up to COP 30

By COP 30, there is a need to have in place voluntary standards with clear and consistent target setting, accounting and disclosure requirements that delineate legitimate actions within, around and beyond value chains. Policies are needed that incentivize landowners and producers to align their investments and practices with government and private sector targets and finance. Beyond that, there is a need for proactive supplier engagement to propel climate adaptation and resilience at the producer level, and to accelerate global value chain transparency. Finally, financial services and products are needed that support producers in their transition to Net Zero, especially when commodity prices are not favourable.

As a key moment on the road to COP 30, Climate Week NYC 2024 provides an opportunity to push this agenda forward. We therefore call on key stakeholders to consider the need for sectoral transformation, just transition and financial resource efficiency in their discussions and debates at Climate Week NYC

• Standard setters and policy makers: Engage in open and inclusive discussions to align on guidance for ambitious climate targets and accounting based on practical feasibility and testing, reflecting the realities of agricultural value chains.
• Downstream companies: Prioritise transparency in reporting practices and actively collaborate with standard setters to establish pragmatic and constructive guidelines conducive to changes on the ground.
• Upstream and midstream companies: Cascade objectives throughout the value chain by engaging producers - the ultimate implementers of FLAG interventions - and translating climate mitigation and adaptation goals to align with their realities.
• Financial institutions: Engage actively in setting appropriate KPIs for sustainable investment, seeking support where there is a gap in value chain specific knowledge.