How Agrifood Businesses Can Build Resilient, Low-Carbon Supply Chains Globally

The report "Pathways to Climate-Resilient Net Zero Supply Chains", a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), lays out an ambitious roadmap for global agrifood businesses to embed climate resilience and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation into their supply chains. Backed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment through its International Climate Initiative (IKI), the guide represents a convergence of science, policy, and corporate responsibility. With agrifood systems responsible for nearly one-third of global anthropogenic emissions, largely from livestock, rice farming, and land-use change, the report warns that piecemeal or poorly aligned corporate climate efforts, especially in developing countries, are inadequate to meet the scale of the crisis. Instead, it proposes a unified, strategic, and operational framework for action that links business interests with national climate goals and local realities.

Despite many corporations now committing to net-zero targets, actual implementation across sprawling, multi-layered supply chains remains uneven. In particular, emissions stemming from upstream activities, Scope 3 emissions, are typically underreported and under-managed. These include emissions from fertilizer use, land-use change, livestock methane, and logistics. The report emphasizes that these emissions can comprise up to 98% of a company’s total climate footprint, yet are often the most difficult to monitor and mitigate due to complex supplier networks, poor data visibility, and limited control over farm-level practices. At the same time, climate risks, from floods and droughts to soil degradation, are already disrupting production and threatening long-term supply chain viability. In this context, the report argues, climate adaptation and mitigation are no longer moral imperatives alone; they are central to business continuity, risk management, and market competitiveness.

Aligning Ambition with National Climate Goals

A recurring theme in the guide is the critical need for agrifood companies to align their climate efforts with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) of the countries in which they operate. Many developing countries already prioritize food security, sustainable agriculture, and rural resilience in their climate plans, providing fertile ground for collaboration. The report points out that alignment with these national strategies not only ensures consistency and integrity but also opens access to regulatory support, blended finance, and public-private partnerships. For example, Thailand’s promotion of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in rice cultivation, and Colombia’s investment in bio-inputs for climate-smart farming, illustrate how government policy and private action can reinforce each other when goals are aligned.

Moreover, the report notes that credible climate strategies require a shift from isolated pilot projects to systemic, supply chain-wide integration. Companies must look beyond short-term compliance and view adaptation as a lever for innovation and market expansion. This means helping smallholders access technology, finance, and training while simultaneously re-engineering internal operations, procurement, logistics, and processing to support climate-smart sourcing models.

Four Steps to Transform Supply Chains

The heart of the report is a structured four-step framework that guides companies from climate commitment to climate action. The first step, build management commitment, calls for embedding climate targets into corporate governance and aligning incentives across departments. It highlights that companies with board-level climate oversight are far more likely to set science-based Scope 3 targets. Procurement teams, particularly Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs), play a pivotal role by integrating climate criteria into supplier selection, performance reviews, and investment decisions.

The second step, implement adaptation strategies, involves conducting detailed climate risk assessments across commodities and geographies using tools such as CORDEX, DSSAT, and FAO’s CAVA platform. Companies are urged to set measurable adaptation targets around reducing vulnerability, enhancing adaptive capacity, and ensuring resilience, whether through drought-resistant crops, improved irrigation, or soil conservation.

The third step, reduce supply chain emissions, focuses on mitigation through insetting rather than external offsets. Recommended interventions include regenerative agriculture, improved livestock practices, zero-deforestation sourcing, and cleaner energy use across operations. Methodologies like the GHG Protocol, Cool Farm Tool, and Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi-FLAG) offer guidance on accurate emissions tracking.

Finally, track, evaluate, and disclose encourages companies to align with disclosure frameworks like the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), CDP, and GRI. Transparent reporting not only builds trust but also attracts climate-conscious investors and consumers.

Learning from the Field: Real Examples, Real Challenges

To bring the framework to life, the report draws from anonymized interviews with agrifood companies and sector case studies. A beverage company, for instance, has committed to improving water availability in high-risk sourcing areas by 2025. Another food ingredient firm has pledged to reduce water use by 30% in regions with high pollution and water stress by 2030. While promising, these cases also reveal persistent barriers, such as a lack of farm-level data, unclear adaptation metrics, and low smallholder capacity.

The report also flags financing as a critical challenge. Many of the most impactful interventions, particularly in climate adaptation, require long-term investment in infrastructure, training, and monitoring. Smallholders, who produce the majority of key tropical commodities like coffee, cocoa, and palm oil, often lack the capital to make even modest changes without corporate or public sector support. Unlocking concessional finance, results-based payment models, and blended finance vehicles is essential to close this gap.

The Future is Integrated, Inclusive, and Climate-Ready

Ultimately, the report urges agrifood companies to shift their role from passive purchasers of agricultural goods to active architects of sustainable food systems. This transformation means not just cutting emissions or planting trees, but co-creating pathways with farmers, governments, and communities to achieve shared climate outcomes. By supporting national goals, investing in supplier capacity, and embedding climate into core business operations, agrifood firms can reduce risk, enhance resilience, open up green markets, and build lasting competitive advantage.

In a climate-constrained world, the message is unambiguous: resilience and decarbonization are not fringe concerns, they are now at the core of agrifood business strategy. And for those who act swiftly, strategically, and equitably, the future holds not just sustainability, but growth.