Post by Climate & Company

What does it take to scale the transition of the food sector? This is what we discussed on Monday at our Proof of Progress Roundtable at London Climate Action Week. 1. Data to predict economic effects and unlock access to finance This one was present in most discussions at the Climate Innovation Forum: Supply chain sustainability becomes business-critical when companies can quantify the economic cost of nature & climate risks. And this helps unlock financing support through banks and investors. The prerequisite: quality data infrastructure to understand which vulnerabilities, regulations, and customer preferences will define long-term viability. 2. Internal guidelines that are derived through the overall strategy and implemented through direct actions Julius Palm demonstrated this in his input. By anchoring the monitoring of fish stocks and fishing principles into the procurement strategy of followfood, they are able to manage supply chain disruptions before they hit. Sustainability standards can help to think about strategies and derive guidelines. 3. Incentive structures along the value chain Farmers and producers lack capital to invest in sustainability. Companies can unlock it through long-term purchase agreements, premium pricing, and cost-sharing. In volatile markets, price certainty itself becomes a crucial incentive. And last but not least: It also takes courage. Companies make strategic bets about future market or environmental conditions and policy directions. By providing a stable policy and financing framework, we can ease the risk involved. Our work at Climate & Company tries to build this framework. Thanks to all our participants, our speakers Kevin Brady, Julius Palm, Richard Profit, our funders Stiftung Mercator GmbH DBU Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt and the LCAW Team Raphael Tietmeyer Fritz Trienekens Dr. Theresa Spandel Louisa von Essen London Climate Action Week Robbie Horton Isobel Ely.