Foreword
Unlocking the Potential of Regenerative Agriculture
Agriculture and food systems are navigating a moment of profound disruption and possibility. It’s clear that business-as-usual is no longer an option – not when these systems face mounting climate risks, accelerating biodiversity loss, and widespread land degradation. Climate change pressures threaten yields and supply chains, also putting the livelihoods of millions of farmers and entire communities on the line.
This Guidebook for Landscape Investments arrives at a crucial moment. It showcases solutions for the creation of regenerative landscapes: a scale that reflects the complex realities where ecosystems, economies, and societies intersect.
What makes this Guidebook different is its foundation in private-sector led collaboration and evidence of key success factors.
The
case studies it features, involving more than
partners across key agricultural regions worldwide, were carefully selected for their diversity, maturity, and inclusiveness.
Many of the corporates highlighted in these case studies are part of the Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes, which was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai. This agenda created a model for private- sector leadership on regenerative agriculture at landscape level. Looking ahead, the newly launched COP30 Action Agenda will expand this ambition through six axes, including the transformation of agriculture and food systems. The COP action agendas aim to accelerate delivery and demonstrate that collective action is among the most powerful tools we have for tackling the climate crisis.
The solutions featured in this guidebook align under the collaborative model of the Action Agendas, and the desire to showcase implementation progress at COP30. They show how businesses can (and must) work shoulder-to-shoulder with local partners, Foreword governments, investors, and farmers to create regenerative landscapes that deliver measurable climate, nature, and social benefits. This is not a solo journey; it is collective action in its fullest sense.
Our role as High-Level Climate Champions representing non-state actors – businesses, investors, cities, civil society, and farmers themselves – places us at the nexus of this transformation. We see firsthand how business leadership, when coupled with inclusive multi-stakeholder collaboration, is indispensable to unlocking the full potential of regenerative landscapes. This Guidebook shines a much-needed light on that leadership, illustrating how companies are not only safeguarding supply chains and market resilience but pioneering new business models that generate shared value for nature, climate, and people.
The Guidebook also confronts the tough realities: upfront costs, data fragmentation, and structural barriers that remain significant hurdles. Yet these challenges are precisely why we cannot afford to hesitate. Instead, we must urgently scale solutions and refine financial instruments that can unlock capital efficiently and equitably.
We are witnessing the rise of a new economy that is pro-farmer, pro-jobs and pro-growth. We invite corporate and financial leaders to lean into the lessons provided by this Guidebook, to collaborate more deeply, and to accelerate action at the landscape scale. The future of our agriculture and food systems – and the communities they sustain – depend on it.
Dan Ioschpe
Climate High-Level Champion
COP30, Brazil
Nigar Arpadarai
Climate High-Level Champion COP29
Azerbaijan
Diane Holdorf
Executive Vice President, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
“Co-financing resilient agricultural value chains and de-risking the transition for farmers requires value chain collaboration across producers, agrifood businesses, investors, governments and civil society at landscape level. This Guidebook shows the impacts business can achieve, and the returns it can gain, by co-investing with strategic partners. The COP Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes supports businesses by aggregating and amplifying company investments and accelerating collective action.”
Shalini Unnikrishnan
Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group
“Landscape action is where ambition meets implementation. These case studies show that regenerative practices not only protect nature but also strengthen value chains and create long-term business resilience. The path forward is clear: invest, collaborate, and scale solutions that deliver impact for people, planet, and prosperity.”
