Smart Net-Zero

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) | Source | Report |

This FAO report analyses global and regional trends in climate-related development finance directed to agrifood systems between 2014 and 2023. Despite the sector’s central role in mitigation and adaptation, agrifood systems received only USD 27.6 billion in 2023, equivalent to about 4% of total climate-related development finance, even as overall climate finance reached a record USD 145 billion. Funding increased by just 1% from the previous year and remains heavily skewed toward adaptation (45%), with more limited investment in mitigation (34%), including methane (CH4) reduction and systemic transformation. The report also highlights uneven regional distribution, with Africa receiving a large share of flows, alongside growing reliance on debt instruments that raise concerns about finance quality and debt sustainability. It underscores the need to better align climate finance with NDCs and long-term low-emissions pathways, strengthen concessional financing, and mobilize higher-quality investment to support net-zero transitions in agrifood systems.