The agrifood sector sits at the heart of both the climate crisis and the pathway to a livable future. Agriculture is a massive global emitter, but also one of the first sectors to feel the heat. From droughts to floods, farmers are already feeling the effects of a changing climate. In order to preserve global agrifood systems, the sector will need to transition to more sustainable and resilient practices.
That’s why Climate Bonds is launching our Agrifood Transition Framework — a new tool designed to guide financial institutions, investors, and stakeholders through the complexities of financing a credible, just, and science-aligned transition in the agrifood system.
This Framework marks a pivotal step in ensuring that capital flows into companies that are not only addressing climate mitigation but also driving climate adaptation, protecting nature, and supporting social equity. It builds on Climate Bonds’ Agrifood Transition Principles and integrates the Agriculture Criteria launched in 2024, as well as evolving work on deforestation- and conversion-free sourcing.
Clear Purpose, Broad Scope
The agrifood sector contributes 35% of global GHG emissions, with agriculture production alone accounting for 21%. Without a credible transition, we cannot meet global climate targets.
The framework is designed to support, facilitate, and expedite this transition. It helps investors and other financial stakeholders assess the credibility of agrifood companies’ transition plans. It applies to the entire value chain—from upstream producers to manufacturers and retailers—ensuring that both production and consumption shifts are considered in transition finance.
But transitioning this sector goes beyond emissions. It means transforming how food is grown, distributed, consumed—and wasted. The new framework promotes a whole-system approach, tackling deforestation, shifting diets, improving resilience, and enhancing food security. The Framework aligns with ICMA and TCFD transition guidance, and builds on Climate Bonds’ Five Hallmarks of a Credible Transition:
- Paris-aligned targets
- Robust planning
- Near-term implementation
- Internal governance
Transparency and disclosure
The Framework also makes use of established regulatory frameworks such as TNFD, CDP and ESRS, to enhance its functionality and ensure consistency with global best practice. By leveraging these widely recognized standards, the framework helps investors and companies seamlessly connect the dots between corporate disclosure, risk management and credible transition strategies in the agrifood sector.
A Toolbox for Transformation
From renewable energy and circularity, to alternative proteins, sustainable fertilisers, and precision agriculture—the Framework outlines actionable steps for companies and financiers alike.
The agrifood sector needs to transition, but that transition may look different depending on the company, industry, or country. That’s why the new framework outlines a broad range of actionable steps for companies and financial actors, from renewable energy and circularity to alternative proteins, sustainable fertilisers, and regenerative agriculture.
To clarify a company’s transition progress, companies are classified by their transition maturity:
- Committed: Companies that are just getting started with the early steps of a transition, such as setting science-based targets.
- Advanced: Companies that are already delivering on implementation, financing, and value chain engagement.
Companies must set short, medium, and long-term targets covering CO₂, methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O), considering land-use changes and supply chain impacts. The framework also promotes deforestation- and conversion-free sourcing, traceability systems, and transparent reporting as central criteria for credible transition plans.
Credible transition also requires accountability. The framework calls for board-level oversight, independent verification of emissions, and annual progress disclosures to ensure that investors can have confidence in the credibility of their investments.
The framework’s use of standardized metrics and recommendations ensures investors can make informed transition finance decisions by providing quantifiable, comparable indicators that track corporate progress, reduce greenwashing risks, and align with global disclosure standards.
What’s Next?
With this Framework, Climate Bonds sets a new standard for transition in the agrifood sector—one that is holistic, ambitious, and actionable. Additional certification criteria for alternative proteins and further guidance on food value chain decarbonisation are already in development for release in 2025.
We invite all stakeholders—investors, issuers, policymakers, and companies—to use this Framework as a compass for credible climate action in the sector that sustains us all.
‘Til next time!
Climate Bonds
