The Biden administration, which has committed to sustainable intensification of food production, has committed over $3bn to climate-smart food commodity and Rural Products. An initial €1bn programme has now been expanded with the first pool of funding committed to 70 projects over the next five years.

These initial projects will expand markets for climate-smart commodities, leverage the greenhouse gas benefits of climate-smart commodity production and provide, meaningful benefits to production agriculture, including for small and underserved producers. The projects funded include:

  • Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovative Finance Initiative to accelerate climate-smart practice uptake by farmers to strengthen markets for climate-smart commodities.
  • Scaling Methane Emissions Reductions and Soil Carbon Sequestration through which Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) climate-smart pilots connecting the on-farm greenhouse gas reductions with the low-carbon dairy market opportunity.
  • The Soil Inventory Project Partnership for Impact and Demand which will build climate-smart markets.
  • The Grass is Greener on the Other Side: Developing Climate-Smart Beef Commodities, which will create market opportunities, grazing and land management practices.
  • Traceable Reforestation for America’s Carbon and Timber which builds climate-smart markets for timber and forest products and addresses the need to expand and recover the nation’s forest estate to balance the demand for wood products with the increasing need for forests to serve as carbon reservoirs.

    • The investment highlights the difference in approach that the US taking compared to the EU to achieving climate goals.