COP 31 Session: Investment in Resilient Supply Chains: Linking Traceability, Emissions, and Finance for Producers

Agricultural supply chains face growing pressure to demonstrate commodity traceability, address deforestation risks and account for farm-level greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, most corporate Scope 3 inventories continue to rely on regional averages, while the costs of measurement and transition frequently fall on producers, particularly smallholder farmers.

Convening TERI, VNV, Imazon, and CEBDS, this COP31 session examines how traceability, emissions measurement, and climate finance can converge to build resilient agricultural supply chains.

Drawing on grounded insights from Brazilian cattle supply chains and Indian smallholder systems, the panel will explore operational frameworks that link satellite monitoring, farm-level data, carbon accounting, and digital MRV directly to capital allocation. TERI will contribute its experience in deploying remote sensing, ground-truthing, and carbon methodologies to build scalable, low-cost MRV architectures tailored to fragmented landholdings.

The dialogue will focus on bridging the gap between data and capital—evaluating how buyer-backed financing, insetting, pre-financing, and results-based incentives can de-risk agricultural transitions while ensuring equitable financial flows reach frontline producers.

Key Objectives

• Explore how robust commodity traceability and granular emissions data can anchor credible corporate climate action and unlock transition finance.
• Identify scalable, cost-effective digital MRV models engineered for fragmented smallholder agricultural landscapes.
• Evaluate innovative financing mechanisms—from insetting to results-based payments—that tie verified environmental outcomes to direct producer incentives and equitable benefit-sharing.

Expected Outcomes

• Defined data and MRV benchmarks that meet institutional investor and corporate standards without imposing compliance burdens on smallholders.
• Actionable frameworks for buyer-backed and blended finance mechanisms that direct capital to primary producers.
• Concrete cross-regional collaboration pathways connecting buyers, technical researchers, project developers, and climate financiers.

Event Category: COP31 Side Event

Date: Monday, 16 November 2026

Time: 10:30-11:30 AM (Türkiye local time)

Venue: CGIAR Food & Agriculture Pavilion, Blue Zone, COP31, Antalya, Türkiye

Organising Partners: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Value Network Ventures (VNV), Imazon and the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS).

TERI Speaker: Sayanta Ghosh, Senior Associate Fellow, Land Resources Division, TERI