FARMS Initiative Launches at COP30 - Here's Why it Matters For Responsible Investors Serious About Sustainability
A landmark moment for sustainable finance unfolded at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where the FARMS Initiative launched its Responsible Minimum Standards (FARMS) for the Protein Shift. It represents another significant step forward to support financial institutions address the financial risks associated with factory farming.
The framework seeks to redirect global capital flows away from intensive animal agriculture and towards sustainable, plant-forward food systems that prioritise climate, nature, and public health.
The Responsible Minimum Standards: A Roadmap for Finance
The Protein Shift RMS, introduced at an official COP30 side event, defines four core actions for banks, investors, and insurers:
• Acknowledge that shifting finance from animal-based to plant-based and alternative proteins is essential for meeting global climate, biodiversity, and health goals.
• Objectives. Set measurable targets for protein transition, aligned with net-zero pathways and recommendations like the EAT-Lancet diet for sustainable nutrition.
• Strategy. Reallocate capital, engage portfolio companies, and avoid financing systems that entrench intensive livestock production.
• Monitoring and reporting. Publicly disclose progress on protein shift objectives and portfolio allocations, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Financial institutions are urged to focus engagement on companies with real transition potential, and to avoid investments in practices that perpetuate unsustainable systems - such as biomethane or large-scale insect feed operations serving industrial animal agriculture.
Financial Materiality: Why Factory Farming Is a Risk for Banks
The RMS anchors its guidance in the principle of "Responsible Investment", teh approach taken by financial institutions to address Environmental, Social and Governance issues in recognition of their potential impact on long-term financial performance and the stability of markets and society.
The FARMS Initiative joins platforms (like FAIRR and Bank for Nature) in raising the profile of the risks that intensive animal agriculture poses, including:
• Regulatory and compliance risk: With increasing global regulation on emissions, deforestation, and welfare standards, banks invested in factory farming face substantial compliance expenses and potential penalties.
• Reputational risk: Growing consumer concern ties banking reputations directly to their environmental and animal welfare footprint, risking negative publicity and loss of customer trust.
• Legal Risk: Litigation over environmental, human rights, and welfare breaches exposes financial institutions to real financial losses.
• Transition and stranded asset risk: As the world pivots toward plant-based and alternative proteins, investments tied to outdated livestock systems may lose value or become financially non-viable.
• Operational and supply chain risk: Industrial livestock agriculture relies on vulnerable supply chains susceptible to disease, climate shocks, and feed shortages, increasing costs and risk.
Momentum: A Growing Trend in Finance
The COP30 launch demonstrates that recognising - and acting on - the financial risks of factory farming is part of a global shift toward sustainable finance. Leading institutions are already moving away from agribusinesses that damage climate and nature, and mainstream investors are waking up to the materiality of animal agriculture risks.
Jackie Groberski, CFA, director at Humane World for Animals, said: “Financial institutions play a pivotal role in shaping the future of food, which comes with the responsibility to do it right. By adopting the Protein Shift RMS, institutions can take practical, credible steps to finance planet-friendly food systems, advancing animal welfare and improving food security for all.”
Taking Action for a Better Food System
The FARMS Initiative calls on banks, insurers, and investors to formally adopt the Responsible Minimum Standards, reallocate capital toward humane and sustainable protein sources, and report transparently on their progress.
• Explore the standards: FARMS Initiative Protein Shift
• Download the full briefing: RMS PDF
How You Can Also Take Action with Your Money
You can help drive change in our food system and fight factory farming by using your financial power for good. Here’s how:
• Check if your bank supports factory farming and send them a message
• Find a nature- and animal-friendly bank
• Support us by following us on Instagram and LinkedIn
Our choices - especially where we put our money - can reshape our food system, protect nature and save animals for generations to come.