The 2025 Forum of the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance recently concluded at FAO Headquarters in Rome. Convened under the theme “Accelerating climate action and resilience through financing for sustainable food systems and agriculture,” the Forum brought together governments, financial institutions, civil society and the private sector to explore how climate finance can support the transformation of agrifood systems.

The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) played a key role in representing the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency, ensuring that the perspectives of farmers were fully considered and integrated into discussions on climate finance. For farmers worldwide, access to finance is critical: it determines their ability to recover from shocks, adapt to climate change, build resilience across agrifood systems, and contribute to a 1.5°C, food-secure future for all.

The WFO delegation, which included representatives from member organisations — Georgia Farmers’ Association (GFA), Danish Agriculture & Food Council (DAFC), Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK Finland), and Botswana Farmers Association (BOFA) — along with Secretary General Andrea Porro, emphasised the need for climate finance that aligns with farmers’ needs and reaches them on the ground through their organisations.

Tamar Toria, Executive Director of the Georgian Farmers’ Association and Facilitator of the WFO Climate Change Working Group, underlined that farmers are on the frontlines of climate change but too often face finance as a barrier rather than a bridge to solutions. She highlighted the importance of channelling finance through farmers’ organisations, and of blended finance, combining public and private resources to reduce risks and widen access.

©FAO/Clara Proenca

Andrea Porro, WFO Secretary General, emphasised that farmers cannot be left out of efforts to advance climate action and food security. Despite managing more than a third of the world’s land and being at the core of food systems, finance for agriculture remains scarce and too rarely reaches the farm level. He pointed to the recent Green Climate Fund (GCF) project in Kenya — developed in collaboration with WFO Members from Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Kenya — mobilising around USD 50 million to support 130 farmer cooperatives in the Lake Victoria region as an example of how farmers’ involvement makes projects more ambitious, grounded in real-world results, and connected to local realities.

©FAO/Clara Proenca

Diane Sibanda, President of the Botswana Farmers Association (BOFA), reminded participants that smallholder farmers are among the most exposed to climate impacts yet are too often excluded from decision-making. She called for direct funding to farmer organisations, stronger financial literacy and flexible funding criteria that value traditional knowledge. “Nothing about us without us,” she concluded.

This call resonated with the closing remarks delivered by Ambassador Carla Barroso Carneiro, Permanent Representative of Brazil to FAO, on behalf of the COP30 Presidency, who underlined that “protecting agriculture is not optional – it is central and essential to achieving the goals of the climate regime” and that finance is the decisive enabler for resilience and food security.

The Forum marked the first-time negotiators from the agriculture and finance tracks came together with the farmers. This dialogue was an important step in bridging the gap between high-level discussions and on-the-ground action. Looking ahead, the challenge is to turn this from a one-off event into a sustained way of working that aligns climate, development and food security agendas. Stepping outside the traditional negotiation rooms and established negotiating blocks to encourage fresh thinking and open the door to innovative solutions.

On the margins of the Forum, WFO also participated in the FAST Partnership Members’ Meeting. As a COP-to-COP vehicle, the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership plays a key role in aligning climate and agricultural finance agendas, and this meeting benefited from the participation of a larger number of negotiators and government delegates attending the ‘Climate Finance Week’ at FAO. The FAST Secretariat expressed readiness to support the development of cross-country projects among its members WFO has offered both its membership and convening power to advance project development, advocating for the inclusion of national farmers organisations in the applications.

FAST Partnership Members – © FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

Equally important was the soft launch of RAIZ – Resilient Agriculture Investment for Net Zero Land Degradation, the flagship agriculture initiative launched by the COP30 Presidency. Positioned at the intersection of the negotiated and non-negotiated tracks, RAIZ tackles finance and investment — core elements for any implementation strategy. WFO stressed that farmers’ organisations must be fully recognised as partners, both in identifying priority projects and as co-implementers, given their territorial knowledge and advisory capacity.

Looking ahead to COP30 and beyond, WFO is committed to work closely with governments and other relevant actors, including through the FAST Partnership and the RAIZ initiative, to build the capacity of farmers’ organisations and cooperatives, expand their access to opportunities, and co-develop innovative approaches that ensure climate finance reaches those who need it most and drives food systems that are more resilient, equitable and inclusive.

Cover photo: ©WFO