Editor’s Note: Agriculture contributes up to 23 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions when factoring in land use change, yet it also holds immense climate mitigation potential. As global leaders gather at the 2025 Bonn Climate Conference, can elevating innovation in farming systems help transform agriculture from a climate victim to a climate solution? This piece explores how the right policies, incentives and investments can balance the scales.
The United Nations’ June climate meetings, which began this week in Bonn — also known as SB 62 — mark a pivotal point on the road to COP30, the 30th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, hosted in Belém, Brazil, in November. In preparation, the COP30 Brazilian presidency recently laid out an ambitious and commendable letter reflecting the urgency and interconnected nature of the climate crisis, highlighting the three priorities it hopes will guide negotiations: reinforcing multilateralism, connecting climate action to people’s daily lives and accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
This laudable vision has received support from a range of sectors, including the plant science industry, to which CropLife belongs. But the vision is, of course, just the start of the journey. Through the creation of a special envoy for agriculture, the presidency has clearly recognised the critical role of the agriculture sector in the fight against climate change. Now, we have the momentum for bottom-up action, driven by real tools and real incentives.
Agriculture as a climate solution
Agriculture sustains billions of livelihoods around the world. And, while it is acutely exposed to climate impacts — whether through seasonal irregularities, floods, droughts or increasingly frequent and intense natural disasters — it is also uniquely positioned to drive solutions that can make farming more climate-resilient and productive.
From flood-tolerant seeds to precision irrigation and integrated pest management, governments can take a fundamental and game-changing step by supporting the development and scaling of climate-smart agricultural technologies that ultimately ensure food security, support livelihoods and boost sustainable development.
The SB 62 conversations can signal the path ahead. This is where we can take policy from talks to terrains — because fields don’t have roofs, and farmers don’t work in meeting rooms. In Bonn this week, leaders should look to take concrete steps to put agricultural technology and innovation at the core of climate solutions.
Embrace systems-wide, outcome-based approaches
Despite the undeniable scale of the challenge and the time frame before us, there’s much reason for optimism from a multilateral policy perspective — not least, the increasingly coherent drumbeat of the need for holistic approaches.
The global stocktake and Global Goal on Adaptation, or GGA — two Paris Agreement concepts designed to accelerate progress on climate action — point in the same direction: the need for system-wide goal setting that links food security, sustainability and economic empowerment. The Rio conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification call for integrated, inclusive and technology-enabled solutions.
Soil health is one example where this thinking comes alive. Often overlooked, soils are essential to emission mitigation and food security: Healthy soils sequester billions of tons of carbon dioxide annually, regulate water flows, enhance biodiversity and improve the nutritional value of crops. Improving soil health is not about any one input, but about managing outcomes across the whole system — through practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage and digital nutrient management. This is why policy frameworks that enable integrated, technology-neutral solutions are essential.
Australia offers a clear example of this type of framework. Its National Soil Strategy, launched in 2021, prioritises soil health through innovation, better data and long-term investment — all tied to measurable outcomes. More importantly, soil health is embedded as a pillar within the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework, which links productivity, natural resource management and environmental outcomes.
This kind of integrated, outcome-driven approach shows how agricultural policy — starting with something as fundamental as soil — can drive sustainability, resilience and growth. The challenge now is to scale this ambition globally by enabling farmers everywhere to access the full range of climate-smart technologies and practices they need to thrive.
Support climate innovation that works, especially for farmers
Access to innovation can be the difference between success and failure for farmers confronting climate extremes. Crop-breeding technologies such as drought-tolerant maize have already shown significant benefits, reducing crop failure risk by 81 per cent in parts of Nigeria, for example. Integrated pest management, which combines targeted pesticide use with biological controls, has also been shown to boost yields by over 40 per cent, helping farmers stay productive even as pest pressures evolve with a warming climate.
But access to these technologies and working practices is not guaranteed. Regulatory environments often lag behind the science, restricting the use of proven tools or limiting the choice for farmers. By setting the tone for COP30 to come, conversations at SB 62 can foster enabling conditions for technology and innovation by recognising their contributions to climate action.
Build the bridge between science and systems change
The opportunities and solutions offered by science are clear, and the development of the necessary tools continues apace. What is needed now is systems thinking to connect the dots between innovation, livelihoods and policy. The upcoming discussions on the GGA and national adaptation plans, or NAPs — country-led strategies to identify and address medium- and long-term climate adaptation needs — offer the right platforms to embed this thinking.
NAPs, in particular, can act as tools for countries to develop strategic road maps for governmental implementation and financing. By incorporating access to productivity-boosting, climate-resilient technologies, countries can equip farmers who are on the front line of climate change with the tools they need to respond to the impacts of the crisis.
But it’s not only governments that need to step up; business has a critical role to play, too. The real test of climate policy is not whether it makes headlines, but whether it delivers results — on farms, in markets, and across landscapes. Companies already training local agronomists, scaling digital tools and strengthening resilient value chains are as essential to turning multilateral ambition into reality as the policy frameworks in which we operate.
As the stakeholders in this journey gather in Bonn, here’s to vision, innovation and outcomes-based thinking that truly delivers.
Header photo from UNFCCC
