Asian Agriculture Climate Finance Summit 2021
CASA EVENT
Asian Agriculture Climate Finance Summit 2021
The challenge: Currently only a small amount of global climate finance is directed towards sustainable agriculture, and private finance in the sector remains stubbornly low. The vast majority of finance remains directed at climate mitigation, particularly in sustainable energy technologies, rather than supporting enterprises and people adapt to the effects of climate change. But there are real opportunities, with new technologies backed by sustainable business models, starting to emerge.
The summit: The by summit was an action-orientated opportunity for innovators, investors and policymakers to come together to explore issues impacting climate Investment.
The summit had three parts:
1. Initial panel discussion hosts and regional experts provided an introduction and share some of the exemplars in climate finance
2. Four separate breakout sessions structured around four key thematic issues identified through the pre-event stakeholder consultations and focused on developing an action plan for addressing any underlying issues:
- Public-Private collaboration for mobilising $100 Billion of climate finance
- Investment opportunities in climate smart agriculture technologies for achieving Net Zero
- Investment opportunities in climate smart agriculture technologies for promoting agriculture resilience
- Investment opportunities in nature-based solutions for tackling climate change and biodiversity loss
3. Closing Panel discussion sector champions from each of the four breakout sessions presented the action plans developed in their groups.
Jonny Casey, the CASA climate change specialist provided by CABI, presented the findings from the report Private finance investment opportunities in climate-smart agriculture technologies. He explained how investors and innovators helped CASA identify eight climate technologies that have significant potential across Asia and Africa. Less than 1% of climate finance is directed towards climate-smart agriculture technologies, when agriculture counts for 24% of all global emissions and it is also one of the sectors most vulnerable to to climate impacts. India is showing the greatest growth in climate smart approaches because of low barriers to entry and strong digital infrastructure.
Erin Sweeney, GROW ASIA, drew her keynote from the ASEAN Responsible Investment in Agriculture (RIA) guidelines and recently published taxonomy. She noted the opportunities and barriers in the ASEAN region around increased sustainable investment in agriculture and forestry and land use sectors. ASEAN Heads of State had adopted a voluntary guide framework to try to balance the rights and interests of different stakeholders and create a reference point for all future investment. The ten principles of the guidelines are increasingly being adopted into policy and law across the region. Grow Asia is supporting investors to work within the new guidelines and showcasing successful investments in inclusive and sustainable agriculture.
The eight climate-smart technologies showing promise are:
(1 ) Biodigesters, (2) Solar–powered drip irrigation technologies, (3) Solar-powered cold chain storage and (4) Solar drying (5) Smart irrigation (6) Biocontrol products, reducing chemical pesticides use (7) Biocoatings which extend the life of produce (8) Information technology platforms. Innovative business models are helping to scale some of these technologies, for example solar-powered cold storage facility used a warehouse receipt approaches (warrantage) to allow farmers to access finance. The brokerage in fees increased their revenue and profit. Bundling products and services, for example, in mobile-based value added services, increase the willingness to pay of smallholder farmers.
Click here to download a one-page summary of the findings from the summit.
SPEAKERS
Stream
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