It is widely recognized that a meaningful climate transition will require systemic transformations in the global energy and transportation sectors, resulting in new sources of risks. For example, investors are increasingly aware that oil, coal and gas reserves are likely to become “stranded assets,” i.e., assets whose values deplete or become unusable under climate transitions.
But climate transitions and their impacts are not limited to the energy and transportation sectors. Global agriculture, which contributes 23 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, are similarly exposed. Agricultural activity is also a key driver of forest loss, especially in the case of palm, beef, and soy, which jointly account for 36 percent of global deforestation. Yet, these sectors are largely overlooked by investors assessing climate transitions owing to a lack of awareness, inadequate measurement tools, the sector’s complexity, and the absence of reliable data, among other factors. Of 24 capital providers recently surveyed by Orbitas–all of whom had tropical commodity exposure–not even one had screened their loan books and/or investments for agricultural transition risks.
To address this oversight, Orbitas has released the findings of the world’s first scenario analysis of climate transitions for this sector in our report, Agriculture in the Age of Climate Transitions. We find that climate transition risks are material for financiers of tropical agriculture, just as they are for energy or transport investors. To emphasize the scale of these risks:
- Growth strategies premised on converting forests into farmland have no future: In a world that adequately limits global temperature from rising, up to 600 million hectares of agricultural land – or over 10% of agricultural land globally – would revert to forests.
- Companies relying on expansion into forested lands face significant asset stranding: In Indonesia, up to 76% of unplanted forest concessions and 15% of existing palm oil assets could be written-down or off under a meaningful national climate transition.
- Greenhouse gas pricing and/or regulations will disrupt agricultural business models; global palm, beef, and soy producers alone face $19 billion in additional costs.
- Opportunities to create value and generate profitability exist if producers strategically invest in regenerative agriculture and diversifying revenue streams: If Indonesian palm oil companies invest sustainably, climate transitions could boost the palm oil industry’s value by US$9 billion. In Colombia, potential carbon sequestration revenues of up to US$485/hectare could dwarf current cattle ranching profits.