Today, the Green Finance Institute has published Financing a Farming Transition, which the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission contributed to as part of the expert farming, finance, and agrifood group.

The report sets out the barriers currently preventing private sector finance from moving at scale to supercharge the farming transition and outlines a roadmap with four investment enablers that can unlock the private finance needed to support a fair and sustainable transition.

Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, said, “We welcome this important report, Financing the Farming Transition, and the cross-sector leadership that GFI has convened to produce it. It is clear that aligning finance to accelerate the farming transition is an urgent priority.

"Currently farm-level financial considerations are fraught with risk, and farmers are rightly weighing up their options with care. This report identifies clear challenges to develop a trusted system that pays farmers properly for the work they do - to restore and enhance nature, improve air and water quality, plant trees and hedges, sequester carbon and regenerate the landscapes that produce enough of the healthy food we need. It’s time to tackle the critical questions and recommendations in Financing the Farming Transition.”

We also welcome the report’s call for better frameworks to underpin the data gathering and usage required to unlock this private finance.