Driving business impact on regenerative agriculture

Business supports the collective agrifood systems transition agenda to raise the ambition and advance sustainable agrifood systems on the road to COP30.

Building on the Non-State Actors Call to Action for Transforming Food Systems for People, Nature, and Climate, the Business for Nature COP16 Business Statement, and Call for Collective Action to Protect Living Soils, businesses are playing a key role in the implementation of regenerative agriculture through National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.  Through aligned incentives and increased demand for regeneratively grown crops, value chain actors send clear demand signals for the adoption of regenerative farming practices that favor biodiversity, promote soil health and improve water use.

For farmers, adopting regenerative practices can lead to significant long-term profit growth, with potential increases of up to 125%. Scaling these practices to 40% of global agricultural cropland can contribute to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, enhance agri-food system resilience, and safeguard biodiversity and livelihoods.

Businesses recognize the need for collaboration across value chains and with farmers to support this transition.Over the past two years, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) together with One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) have convened 52 companies and 33 partner organisations, which as a collective represent over 1,100 companies, who align on 11 sector agnostic outcomes for regenerative agriculture. The outcomes are supported by 10 key indicators aligned with leading frameworks, including the Global Biodiversity Framework Targets 7, 10, and 15. Our policy recommendations will accelerate progress along the maturity curve, facilitating widespread implementation and collective action.

There is a readiness from the private sector to scale and mainstream regenerative agriculture as a means to increase biodiversity, improve soil health and water use. Businesses are invested but can only go so far without strong, science-based policy reform and incentives. We need government leadership to strengthen policies, incentives and legislation that will accelerate agricultural transitions. A strong enabling environment coupled with regulatory certainty will foster innovation, transform business models, and mobilize investment to support farmers and ensure business accountability across the value chain.

We have found that scaling up regenerative agriculture requires a shift from prescriptive, practice-based policy to outcome-based approaches. We advocate for agricultural policy measures, including incentives that enable flexibility and encourage farmers to adopt regenerative techniques and farming practices that best suit their individual environmental and socio-cultural contexts.