AIM for Climate was officially launched earlier this week at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) by the UAE and the US. The initiative is backed by over 30 countries, and over 40 non-governmental partners. Earlier this week AIM for Climate announced an initial “early harvest” of $4 billion in increased investment in climate-smart agriculture innovation by its partners which includes the innovation sprints announced today.
Innovation sprints are aimed at increasing agricultural productivity while adapting and building resilience to climate change and helping to reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions in the sector. AIM for Climate government partners provide the crucial foundation of AIM for Climate, through a wave of new public investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. But other sectors, including business, philanthropy, and other non-government partners are invited to build upon that foundation with “innovation sprints” – investments in specific, impactful, expedited efforts – or by providing critical knowledge for identifying investment gaps, challenges and opportunities. AIM for Climate invites more non-government organizations to join in efforts to transform global agriculture.
AIM for Climate seeks to address the climate challenge by bringing together a diverse range of partners to significantly increase and accelerate investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems over the next five years. The global initiative empowers agriculture to be part of the solution to address the climate challenge, build resilience to its impacts and enhance the livelihoods of over 2 billion people employed in the sector.
Further details on the eight sprints announced today can be found below. AIM for Climate partners are encouraged to connect and engage with innovation sprint partners to catalyze additional opportunities.
AIM for Climate Innovation Sprints Announced at COP26
Fast Tracking Climate Solutions from CGIAR Genebank Collections
A new $40M initiative led by the CGIAR, in partnership with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will unlock key climate-resilient traits from CGIAR's vast global genebank collections. This Sprint will expand the utilization of high-value genetic diversity to address current and emerging climate challenges faced by millions of smallholder farmers worldwide. The initiative welcomes additional partners from all sectors to scale this critical work.
Participants: CGIAR, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Point of Contact: Andrea Zandstra, Global Director, Innovative Finance and Resource Mobilization, CGIAR, a.zandstra@cgiar.org
Climate Resilience Through Crop Protection Innovation
Guided by our purpose to advance innovation in agriculture for a sustainable future, CropLife International is launching an initiative to accelerate access and uptake of climate-smart crop protection innovations for smallholder farmers in Asia, Africa, and Central America. Through a new investment of over $13M over 5 years, the multi-stakeholder program supports farmers to do “more with less” and increase their ability to mitigate and adapt to pest and disease challenges using climate-friendly approaches.
Participants: CropLife International
Point of Contact: Robert Hunter, Chief Operating Officer, CropLife International, Robert.Hunter@croplife.org
AgMission: Cultivating Climate-Smart Solutions
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action, and the World Farmers Organisation established AgMission to make agriculture net-negative for greenhouse gas emissions through comprehensive agricultural research. AgMission collaborates with farmers, ranchers and scientists to co-create and expand adoption of climate-smart technologies by developing an interoperable, data-driven framework that connects farmers to technological and scientific advances. AgMission has raised over $10M and continues fundraising for this unprecedented initiative.
Participants: Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action, World Farmers Organisation, PepsiCo, McDonald's, Syngenta Foundation and others.
Point of Contact: Sarah Goldberg, Director of communications & legislative affairs, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), sgoldberg@foundationfar.org
Climate Proofing 0.5 billion acres around the world by 2024
The ClimateAi team seeks to “climate-proof” 0.5 billion acres around the world by 2024 by deploying AI-driven adaptation tools that boost agricultural productivity despite climate change. ClimateAi's innovative climate analytics (1 day to 40 years out) help farmers and agribusinesses adapt by enabling data-driven decisions to maximize yield, crop quality, resource efficiency, and financial stability/profits while reducing GHG emissions per ton. ClimateAi recently raised $12M from investors and $250k in grant funding from the National Science Foundation.
Participants: ClimateAi
Point of Contact: Borna Poursheikhani, Growth Lead, ClimateAi, borna@climate.ai
Greener Cattle Initiative: Addressing Enteric Methane Emissions
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and industry partners are launching the Greener Cattle Initiative, a public-private partnership aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions from dairy and beef cattle, a major climate change contributor. This five-year initiative is awarding $5M in research grants to identify, develop and/or validate scientifically sound, commercially feasible and socially responsible mitigation options. This research advances the sectors' voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.
Participants: Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, ADM, Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, Elanco, Genus, National Dairy Herd Information Association, Nestle, New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre
Point of Contact: Sarah Goldberg, Director of communications & legislative affairs, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), sgoldberg@foundationfar.org
U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund
The U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund will work in partnership with U.S. cotton growers and the U.S. cotton industry to implement regenerative soil health practices across more than one million acres of U.S. cotton cropland over the next five years, with the goal of eliminating one million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere by 2026. The U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund is supported by a $5M investment from the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation.
Participants: Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation, Soil Health Institute
Point of Contact: Byron Rath, Sustainability Specialist, Soil Health Institute, brath@soilhealthinstitute.org
Soil organic carbon sequestration opportunities in soils of Latin America and the Caribbean
The objective of this project is to contribute to the design of land use and management with high potential for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in agricultural production systems of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) and to build capacities in LAC for the quantification and monitoring of SOC stocks. The project is expected to be completed by May 2025; total investment is approximately at $1.5M.
Participants: FONTAGRO, New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (Uruguay), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (Argentina), Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (Chile),Agrosavia (Colombia), Instituto Nacional de Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología Agropecuaria (Costa Rica), The Alliance of Biodiversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca (Uruguay), Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases
Point of Contact: Veronica Ciganda, Director of Programme - Production and Environmental Sustainability, INIA Uruguay, vciganda@inia.org.uy
Satellite monitoring of quantity and quality of available biomass in pastoral livestock systems
The objective of the project is to lower the cost of estimating the quantity and quality of biomass available in pastoral livestock systems through a satellite tool, in real-time and with adequate precision. The project is expected to be completed by May 2026; total investment is approximately at $1.3M.
Participants: FONTAGRO, New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (Argentina), Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina), Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (Uruguay),Agrosavia (Colombia), Instituto Nacional de Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología Agropecuaria (Costa Rica), Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca (Argentina), Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca (Uruguay), Asociación Argentina de Consorcios Regionales de Experimentación Agrícola, Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Cámara Nacional de Productores de Leche (Costa Rica), Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research New Zealand, Teagasc - Agriculture and Food Development Authority Ireland, University of Glasgow Scotland, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Australia, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Point of Contact: Martín Durante, Researcher, INTA Argentina, durante.martin@inta.gob.ar
