Energy & Climate
New Food and Agriculture Benchmark
Research finds more than 90% of food and agriculture companies don’t do enough to farm sustainably or provide healthy food.
3 October 2023
Eight countries have announced their support for an innovative new Brazil-led accelerator that will unite governments and investors behind a shared goal: restoring the world’s farmland to strengthen food security, tackle climate breakdown and protect biodiversity.
The Resilient Agriculture Investment for net-zero land degradation (RAIZ) accelerator will assist participating governments to unlock and strategically allocate public and private investment for the restoration of degraded agricultural land at scale.
The accelerator builds on the lessons of Green Way and Eco Invest in Brazil – an innovative mechanism that mobilised close to $6 billion in public debt and commercial loans to restore up to 3 million hectares of pastureland.
Over 20% of the world’s agricultural land – around 1 billion hectares – is currently degraded.
Degraded soils are less productive and resilient, contributing to food insecurity and incentivising expansion into natural ecosystems, including deforestation.
Reversing just 10% of cropland degradation could restore 44 million tonnes of annual food production and meet the nutritional requirements of 154 million people.
However, capital is not flowing at the scale needed to address the challenge.
A $105 billion funding gap remains, which governments alone cannot fill.
The private sector could invest up to $90 billion in on-farm nature-based solutions, but struggles to mobilise funds due to high upfront costs, long payback timelines and variable returns.
Governments have a critical role to play in de-risking private capital. RAIZ is designed to help governments and financial partners co-design tailored financing solutions at national level to unlock investment at scale.
Led by Brazil and supported by the governments of Australia, Canada, Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Norway, Peru and the United Kingdom, the accelerator was officially launched at a Ministerial Event at UNFCCC COP30 in Belém yesterday (19 November).
The technical assistance provided by RAIZ will help governments to map degraded landscapes to prioritise areas for investment.
An interactive mapping tool will respond to the need for accurate analysis, enabling funding to be directed to areas with the highest potential for productivity gains.
Investable restoration solutions will be identified and financing needs assessed. Governments will be supported to identify investable restoration solutions and develop a Farmland Restoration Finance Assessment outlining costs, returns, funding gaps and identifying possible sources of finance.
RAIZ will convene governments and interested investors to build or tailor co-investment vehicles that leverage public finance to de-risk private investments and reduce the cost of capital.
It will consolidate lessons from national experiences into case studies and guidance to inform global peer learning and improve enabling conditions for restoration finance.
‘The United Kingdom welcomes the RAIZ accelerator as a much-needed way to build collaboration and innovative finance to restore degraded land globally, which in turn supports our ecosystems, strengthens livelihoods, and builds food security and resilience. The UK is delighted to have worked with Brazil on the development of RAIZ and we look forward to the further progress of this important work.’
MARY CREAGH
UK Minister of Nature
Governments and investors are encouraged to join this effort and work together to co-design and launch tailored national mechanisms for farmland restoration.
Development banks, private investors and philanthropic partners are all needed to unlock solutions that bring finance to farmers and restore the world’s productive farmlands.
‘Despite millions pledged for regenerative agriculture in recent years, much of the financing remains fragmented — locked in small-scale, blended facilities tied to specific projects, commodities or geographies.
‘To scale from millions to billions, we must move beyond a patchwork of efforts toward true systems change. Through RAIZ, FOLU and its partners are bringing investors and farmers to the table with governments to co-design joint investment mechanisms at national level that align public incentives with private capital, restoring degraded farmland at scale.
‘Public and private investors alike recognise that restoring soils isn’t just about climate and nature — it’s about securing value chains, boosting farmer livelihoods and strengthening rural economies.’
MORGAN GILLESPY
Executive director at the Food and Land Use Coalition
The launch of RAIZ supports key global policy goals, including the COP30 Presidency’s action agenda (Axis 3) on transforming agriculture and food systems, with a focus on land restoration (Goal 8).
Farmland restoration is also central to the Rio Conventions (UNCBD, UNCCD, UNFCCC) and the UN 2030 Agenda, notably SDG 15.3 which aims to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030.
By promoting more sustainable and regenerative agriculture, RAIZ advances efforts to restore degraded land, boost productivity, improve soil carbon capture potential and reduce pressure on forests.
‘Land and soil degradation represent structural challenges for food and water security and for climate, biodiversity and development goals. Initiatives like RAIZ, which lay down foundations for cooperation across partners and conventions, help farmers and communities to achieve healthy soils and healthy lands as building blocks of prosperous and resilient economies.
‘We look forward to seeing how RAIZ could become a cross-COP accelerator for stronger cooperation on joint challenges and co-benefits, and assessing progress at UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia.’
ANDREA MEZA MURILLO
Deputy Executive Secretary at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
RAIZ will be built and delivered by members of the Activation Group for Key Objective 8 – ‘Land restoration and sustainable agriculture’ – of the COP30 Action Agenda.
The accelerator will be hosted by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) under the FAO FAST Partnership, with the collaboration of the UNCCD G20 Global Land Initiative, and the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) in partnership with the Action Agenda for Regenerative Landscapes.
The initiative is supported by technical partners such as the Green Climate Fund, the World Bank, CGIAR, the Climate Policy Initiative, the Riyadh Action Agenda, Restor, Instituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS) and Agroicone.
‘RAIZ arrives at a decisive moment for the global climate agenda. Around the world, degraded farmland is undermining food security, increasing pressure on forests and weakening rural economies.
‘What RAIZ offers is a practical pathway for countries to turn ambition into action — by mobilizing investment at scale, aligning public and private finance, and restoring productivity where it is most urgently needed. This is not only about land; it is about resilience, livelihoods, and a new vision of agricultural development that protects nature while strengthening economies. RAIZ can help countries unlock the transformative potential of restoration.’
MARIA NETTO
Executive director of the Instituto Clima e Sociedade
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