Farmers can reduce emissions.
Farmers can increase biodiversity.
But it's costly.
So who pays for sustainability?
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One answer could be the supply chain:
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Retailers
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Wholesalers
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Processors
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Farmers
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FarmCredit will investigate whether a cost sharing instrument is a viable financing mechanism to fund the sustainable transition in Agriculture
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FarmCredit
When a farm reduces emissions, the whole supply chain decarbonises
Background
The vast majority of environmental impacts in agriculture occur at the farm level. The Irish government has introduced a 25% emission reduction target for the agricultural sector. To assist farmers the government is subsidising emission reducing technologies and management strategies through the Common Agricultural Policy. AgriFood corporates now must report on the emissions and biodiversity in their supply chain under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Many corporates are setting sustainability targets for their supply chain under Science Based Targets.
Research Questions
Will corporates who have set sustainability targets pay farmers for enhanced sustainability? Is there a cost sharing mechanism that the whole supply chain could buy into? Processors, wholesalers and retailers all sharing cost of primary producer sustainable transition? What kind of monitoring, verification and reporting (MRV) is needed? What kind of data are corporates looking for? What kind of margin do farmers need to participate? How do we ensure additionality? Can we connect with government datasets? Do we need a regulator?
Key Stakeholders
Academic Team
Funded by DAFM's 2023 Research Call Tranche II
