Climate Bonds and World Agrifood Innovation Conference (WAFI) sign MoU to advance agri-food transition finance

Key highlights:

• Partnership to mobilise finance for agri-food system climate transition
• Focus areas include methane mitigation, climate resilience, and sustainable value chains
• Collaboration spans platform building, capacity development, and joint research

Beijing, 19 January 2026, 11am — Climate Bonds Initiative and the World Agrifood Innovation Conference (WAFI) formalised their partnership through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Beijing, marking a step forward in advancing transition finance for the agri-food sector. The partnership focuses on accelerating finance for the transition of agri-food systems, with three main areas of work:

• Stakeholder engagement on agri-food transition finance: convening stakeholders across the financial sector and agri-food industry to drive dialogue and partnerships, with a focus on methane reduction, climate resilience, and sustainable value chains.
• Capacity building for issuers and investors: empowering agri-food companies, value chain actors and investors to identify credible transition pathways, unlock potential financing opportunities and better access to green finance instruments.
• Joint research and knowledge sharing: advancing thought leadership on sustainable agri-food finance, enhancing market understanding, and promoting scalable and credible transition finance practices.

The signing ceremony was attended by Prof. Fan Shenggen, Founder of WAFI and Dean of the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy (AGFEP) at China Agricultural University, and Sean Kidney, Co-founder and CEO of Climate Bonds.

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Contact for agri-food cooperation: 

Shaoxin Li

China Agri Transition Lead

E: shaoxin.li@climatebonds.net

Contact for interviews and other media request:

Xiaoyan Shen

Senior Communications and Marketing Specialist (China)

E: Xiaoyan.shen@climatebonds.net

Notes to the editor: 

About the World AgriFood Innovation (WAFI) Conference: WAFI is a global platform dedicated to advancing integrated innovation across agrifood systems. Anchored by its annual international conference and supported by year-round engagement mechanisms, WAFI accelerates agrifood systems transformation by fostering dialogue and collaboration among governments, industry, academia, research institutions, and practitioners. Together, these stakeholders address pressing global challenges, including food security, climate change, and sustainable development. WAFI is committed to shaping a healthy, resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agrifood future, providing global innovators with a practical, long-term, and open platform for collaboration. 

About the Climate Bonds Initiative: Climate Bonds is the leading international non-governmental organisation mobilising global capital for climate action. We drive the growth of the green and sustainable debt market through science-aligned frameworks including our taxonomies and standards, our Certification, our data and insights, and our provision of expert policy and technical advice. More information on our website here. 

In the agri-food sector, Climate Bonds supports the identification of credible investments and helps prevent greenwashing through its standards and certification framework, including criteria for agriculture production, food value chains, alternative proteins, and agri-food deforestation and conversion free sourcing. These frameworks guide investments aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.