Why business, finance and government should embrace regenerative agriculture

After ten years building and leading the sustainable finance practice at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, it's now time for me to start a new chapter (though I am honoured to continue my relationship with CISL as a Senior Associate).

It is striking to me how profoundly the financial market has evolved over the last decade. Today, the financial case for sustainable business is clear in many areas, clients of financial institutions are seeking real solutions, financial product developers are responding and financial regulators are acting.

Though there is still much to do, I am proud that the CISL Sustainable Finance team, now growing beyond a dozen FTEs, has been at the forefront of so much of this change. The team has worked with passion, patience and due humility to empower firms and authorities from across the G20 to take leadership such that sustainable finance is the norm.

This all ultimately matters because of the change it drives in the wider economy. The momentum that has built around the superior economics of clean energy and clean transport helps to fuel my own optimism. These sectors’ journeys are a long way from complete, but I believe the direction of travel is now unstoppable.

But I am struck by two realities:

1. We urgently need ways to draw carbon out of the atmosphere that are affordable at scale. We focus most of our efforts on slowing the flow rate of the tap that is filling up the bath (greenhouse gas emissions). But the bath is still filling up way too fast. We need to pull out the bath plug. And we need market-based mechanisms to support this at scale.
2. With all the progress that is being made to mobilise mainstream finance providers behind sustainable business, the problem is not a lack of money. I know from personal experience the challenge rapidly coming into focus is a lack of appropriate and clearly-defined solutions for pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, banks, private equity houses, family offices and other capital providers to back. One clue is the current focus on taxonomies and definitions around the world; mainstream capital providers are screaming that they don't know where to look for solutions beyond the usual suspects like renewable energy.

There is already a solution that addresses both of these realities. But it chronically under-appreciated. It's called regenerative agriculture.

Today, the vast majority of large-scale, conventional agriculture has a critical design flaw. It systematically destroys its primary asset: the soil.

If the food we grow is the embryo in the womb, the soil is its placenta. So if we want to feed ourselves long into the future, it is madness to rely on killing the soil in the process.

In the meantime, the result of a farming system that systematically destroys its soil is that it emits more carbon than it stores, it does not produce nutrient-dense food and it lacks resilience to extremes of weather. I don't blame farmers. Their decisions are the product of the wider food and agricultural systems in which they operate. So can this change?

For at least the last 70 years, we have been conditioned to think that alternatives are not affordable. But at the same time, we know that so many farmers around the world - large and small - are struggling to make their businesses profitable.

So what if it was the case that farming that prioritises soil health, captures more carbon than it emits, produces nutrient-dense food and is more resilient to extremes of weather – all driven by the natural productivity of farm ecosystems rather than costly inputs – is also more profitable?

This is what has excited me so much about Soil Capital. Here is a group of actual farm managers and finance professionals that have hands-on experience of working with farmers around the world to transition to farming systems that regenerate soil health and make them more profitable in the process. To begin with, yields are maintained while costs come down. Over time, yields can improve. A quiet farming revolution, ultimately driven by these superior economics, is already underway.

My role as Head of Business and Government Solutions is to work with food and agri businesses, financial institutions and governments to help them enjoy the business benefits of transitioning to regenerative agriculture at scale across the value chain. We're in good company. Retailers like Tesco, manufacturers like Danone, governments like Andhra Pradesh in India and investors like Jeremy Grantham have all seen the light.

Underpinning the broader journey will be the growing market-wide recognition that agricultural models that regenerate soil health are simply more competitive - and better for farmer livelihoods - than conventional ones.

Join us, there's no time to lose!