Swiss Re part of European Carbon+ Farming Coalition with bold plan to decarbonise Europe’s food system

If farmers are supported to take climate-smart actions the EU could reduce its agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 6%, restore soil health of over 14% of its total agricultural land, and add between €1.9bn and €9.3 billion annually to farmers’ incomes. Transforming Food Systems with Farmers, written as part of the broader effort of the 100 Million Farmers’ EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition makes recommendations on how to work with farmers to achieve these results.

The EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition designed and implemented a survey that asked farmers from seven countries, making up a majority of the EU farmer base, about the main barriers to scaling climate-smart agricultural solutions. These included: challenging farm economics, lack of awareness, uneven technology adoption, and fragmentation of policies at the national level.

Based on these findings, The EU Carbon+ Farming Coalition is committed to accelerating the feasibility and impact of the climate-smart transition through flagship initiatives.

“As a global re/insurer, Swiss Re has contributed to the agricultural sector resilience for many years with innovative risk transfer solutions. Today we want to help the sector transition towards a decarbonised future; we understand there are risks associated with this critical phase and the insurance industry can be a catalyst and a partner in this transformation. We believe the Coalition allows an effective mobilisation of technical competencies, risk insights and co-ordinated market forces to help transform Europe into a leading example of an adaptive, equitable and climate-resilient society, and we will play our part.”  Veronica Scotti, Chair, Public Sector Solutions, Swiss Re.

Link to publication: Transforming Food Systems with Farmers: A Pathway for the EU | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)

To learn more about the coalition, please visit the webpage here.