Date & time: 19 September 2023, 09:15 – 10:45
Location: Madison Room – Nature Positive Hub, Convene 101 Park Avenue, New York
Banks are crucial to supporting the decarbonization of food & agriculture, but more support is needed to apply guidance in the banking sector. This session features WBCSD, UNEP FI, Barclays, Environmental Defense Fund, and McKinsey sharing the latest work to deliver guidance for banks to set net zero targets for their food & agriculture portfolios.
Food systems are estimated to account for one-third of global emissions – much of which is related to primary agricultural production and land use change that alone comprise almost one-quarter of global emissions. These emissions emanate from a complex and extensive set of value chains with varying emissions sources, types, and quantities.
Banks are crucial to supporting decarbonization in this sector – and setting ambitious yet achievable net zero targets can help spur action such as engaging with banking clients to adopt sustainable practices, offering fit-for-purpose financial products to support low-carbon business models, and investing in climate-friendly innovation.
There is momentum in the financial sector to act, with an increasing number of banks and financial institutions committing to measuring, disclosing and, over time, reducing their financed emissions.
But banks need support applying the various guidance available (e.g., from the Science-based Targets Initiative and Greenhouse Gas Protocol) for the banking sector. Setting and managing targets for banks’ food & agriculture portfolios faces challenges with multiple and diverse actors throughout the value chain, data complexity across large portfolios, and the diverse geographic and commodity exposure of portfolios.
In response to this need, Banking for Impact on Climate in Agriculture—a partnership between WBCSD, UNEP-FI, EDF, PCAF, AIB, Barclays, Lloyds, Rabobank, Santander, and Wells Fargo—has been working to deliver both sector-level and more commodity-specific guidance for banks to set targets in the food & agriculture sector.
Banks and companies with exposure to the agriculture sector, along with others working on financed emissions and decarbonization related to land use, are encouraged to join this session. Speakers from WBCSD, UNEP FI, Barclays, Environmental Defense Fund, and McKinsey will share how they are unpacking this complexity with clear guidance for the banking sector.
Registration for in-person attendance at this event is now closed. However, the session will be accessible to virtual participants via Zoom. To watch the event on Zoom, please click here at the scheduled time.
No registration is required for Zoom, however, the following will still be required to attend the session: First Name, Last Name and Email Address.
For more information, please contact Gretel Gambarelli (gambarelli@wbcsd.org).
Click here to check the WBCSD @Climate Week NYC 2023 dedicated webpage.