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February has been a whirlwind month for nature, factory farm finance and the food transition.

The collapse of Brazil’s Amazon Soy Moratorium - with JBS, Cargill, Bunge, and ADM walking away from the voluntary deal that helped cut soy-driven deforestation by ~70% since 2006 - is arguably the most consequential development for bank-financed nature destruction in years.

Meanwhile in the US, structural contraction in beef processing is accelerating as the cattle herd sits at a 75-year low, and greenwashing litigation has set legal precedents that are already following JBS and Tyson into the bond market.

On the other side, plant-based investment climbed 39% last year, Tesco has reported that the category is growing again, and Europe is facing the subsidy conversation it has been avoiding for decades.

A lot to cover, so let’s get into it.

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Factory farm finance & banking

JBS pays $1.1M and Tyson abandons “climate-smart” beef - greenwashing settlements set a legal template
Two of the world’s largest meat companies have been legally forced to retract climate claims; banks arranging bonds for either company now face harder questions about the ESG narrative underpinning those deals.

Tyson raises $498M bond as beef segment projects $400M–$600M operating loss
Capital markets are being used to bridge a structural beef-sector downturn; with a 364% dividend payout ratio and heavy insider selling, bond buyers should be pricing this carefully.

Lloyds updates cattle-financing criteria - GRSB membership now required in high-deforestation-risk countries
As the UK’s largest agricultural lender, Lloyds’ updated sector statement sets a new floor for the UK market - though the standard is voluntary, and whether it excludes the worst actors in practice remains to be tested.

Lloyds launches Agricultural Transition Finance loan for regenerative farming
Interest-only repayments for up to five years and 16 regenerative activity standards - one of the first mainstream UK bank products designed for farm-level sustainability transition, though its application to intensive livestock models remains to be clarified.

UK government creates Farming & Food Partnership Board to unlock private finance
Banks, farmers, and agri-food businesses convened to remove barriers to farm investment - a meaningful opening, though the framing around “productivity” will need to be watched closely to ensure it supports genuine transition over intensification.

Plant-based & alternative protein finance

GFI: plant-based investment rose 39% to $450M in 2025 — the only growing alt-protein sub-sector
Fermentation fell 43% and cultivated meat 48%; total alt-protein funding came to $881M (down from $1.1B in 2024). The divergence now clearly separates near-term commercial confidence from longer-horizon bets.

Tesco announces that plant-based food is back in growth
The UK’s largest retailer reports category growth powered by whole vegetables and pulses rather than meat replacements — which shifts where the investment opportunity actually sits across the value chain.

Oatly records first positive adj. EBITDA ($11M); Beyond Meat earnings due 25 Feb
Oatly’s Q4 2025 (revenue +9.1%, gross margin 34.5%) is the clearest proof yet that scaled plant-based brands can reach positive unit economics; Beyond Meat remains in Altman Z-Score distress territory.

Mosa Meat raises €15M and claims restaurant-menu cost parity; Meatable and Believer Meats fold
The shakeout is concentrating capital in companies with credible unit economics - Mosa Meat (state-backed, ~€150M total raised) is the European benchmark; the closures are a reminder that early-stage cultivated meat debt remains very high risk.

“Bankability gap“ remains the key bottleneck for alt protein scale-up
Companies that raised debt to fund facilities and missed targets have buckled - the sector needs tailored instruments (SLLs, blended finance, offtake-backed credit) that don’t yet exist at scale.

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Source: GFI analysis of data from Net Zero Insights.

Nature, deforestation & policy

UN: for every $1 protecting nature, $30 goes to destroying it
UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2026 puts the ratio at $7.3T nature-negative vs $220B nature-positive in 2023 — agriculture is identified as a primary driver of harmful subsidies; a powerful frame for engaging banks on their agricultural loan books.

Brazil’s Amazon Soy Moratorium collapses - Bunge, Cargill, ADM, JBS pull out
The voluntary pact that cut Amazon soy deforestation by ~70% since 2006 is over; an IPAM study suggests deforestation could rise 30% by 2045, and 14 European supermarkets including Lidl and Aldi have threatened to stop purchasing Brazilian soy without traceable supply chains. Any bank financing these traders faces significantly elevated EUDR transition and reputational risk.

EUDR delayed again - large operators now face a December 2026 deadline
A second one-year postponement reduces immediate compliance pressure, but the regulation remains on the books - and with the moratorium gone in Brazil, the EUDR’s eventual enforcement just became more consequential, not less.

Foodrise: EU gave beef 580x more in subsidies than legumes in 2020
€39 billion of €51 billion in total Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) farmer subsidies flowed to meat and dairy; the 2028–2034 CAP negotiations are the live pressure point to push for reform that changes the economics of European livestock finance.

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Source: FoodRise. Note: Volume of EU CAP subsidies going to beef and lamb vs. legumes in 2020 (euros), on a consumption basis

Markets & livestock economics

Tyson closes 5,000-head/day Lexington plant; Cargill shuts Milwaukee-US beef processing contracts
Two of the Big Four US beef processors have shuttered major capacity within weeks of each other as the US cattle herd hits a 75-year low - this is structural consolidation, not a cyclical blip, and banks with beef-sector exposure should be stress-testing for further closures. Read our deep-dive into Tyson’s closure.

JBS Greeley workers vote 99% to authorise the first strike in the plant’s history
~3,800 workers at JBS’s flagship 5,500-head/day Colorado plant allege unfair labour practices; a walkout would disrupt US processing capacity, spike cattle futures, and pressure a company whose debt coverage is already raising analyst concerns.

USDA cuts 2026 poultry forecasts; HPAI confirmed in England and Scotland in February
Pullet placements down 4%, wholesale broiler prices at 126–128¢/lb, 76,000+ birds lost in the first week of January alone - intensive monoculture poultry systems are proving increasingly biologically fragile.

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Source: Bank for Nature

New research & studies

CAP at the Crossroads - Foodrise, 18 Feb 2026
Based on Leiden University data, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) directed 580x more to beef and lamb than legumes in 2020 and 500x more to dairy than nuts and seeds. €39B of €51B in total CAP subsidies flowed to meat and dairy - more than 10x the allocation to fruit and vegetables. The research recommends to redirect subsidies to support healthy, sustainable food ahead of the 2028–2034 CAP reform.

State of Finance for Nature 2026 - UNEP, January 2026
$7.3 trillion flowed into nature-negative activities in 2023 vs $220B into nature-based solutions - a 30:1 ratio. Agriculture drives a significant share of the harmful subsidies side. The nature-finance gap stands at $208B actual against $1.15T needed by 2030.

FAIRR Seafood Traceability Engagement Phase 2 - FAIRR, February 2026
Planet Tracker finds that investing just 1% of seafood sales in traceability could boost sector profitability by 60% and unlock $600B in value - a financially-framed engagement model directly transferable to livestock and feed supply chains.

Action on Nature: what can financial institutions expect in 2026? - UNEP FI, January 2026
Over 500 organisations have committed to TNFD adoption. UNEP FI’s forthcoming Nature Journey will give banks a practical roadmap for integrating nature into governance and risk management. ECB data finds that 75% of bank loans are linked to ecosystem services, which makes livestock a systemic exposure for most European lenders.

From our Newsroom: How Bad is AI for the Environment? Here’s How it Compares to Animal Agriculture

AI’s environmental footprint is making headlines every week - data centres are guzzling water and energy, and the tech boom is raising serious climate alarms. But how does it actually stack up against the food system?

Our latest piece puts the numbers side by side. While AI’s footprint is real and growing rapidly, animal agriculture remains responsible for up to 19.6% of global emissions, 80% of deforestation, and is the leading driver of biodiversity loss worldwide.

Why is tech under the microscope while factory farming’s financiers remain largely unchallenged? Read the full comparison.

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New Banks Uploaded

We’ve added five new bank profiles this month - three UK challengers, Ireland’s largest agricultural lender, and HSBC’s US operation. Check them out and share them:

HSBC (US)
Lent £19bn to livestock and feed companies since 2015; no animal welfare policy or exclusion.

Atom Bank (UK)
UK’s first app-only bank; has pledged to become climate positive by 2035 - the first UK bank to make this commitment.

Tesco Bank (UK)
Now owned by Barclays, the UK’s leading factory farm financier, funds are allocated according to their discretion.

Bank of Ireland (UK & Ireland)
Ireland’s largest agricultural lender, the bank heavily finances factory farming.

Tandem Bank (UK)
UK green digital bank; £572M in green lending and 70,000 tonnes of CO₂ saved in 2024 - this bank is a good one!

There we have it!

That's February. If anything here is relevant to your work or interests, your bank, or your portfolio, please share it forward. The more people tracking the connections between finance and the food system, the faster we move we create a nature, climate and animal-friendly financial system.

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Got a tip, a report, or a bank we should profile? Drop us a line at hello@bankfornature.org - we read everything.