Outcomes & Action Agenda (3 October 2025)

Executive summary

The 2025 Forum on “The Climate Impact on Agriculture and its Profound Ripple Effects on the Global Economy” established a clear mandate: treat food and fibre systems as national resilience infrastructure. Participants concluded that sustainable agriculture is simultaneously a climate solution, a water-security strategy, a public-health intervention and a competitiveness agenda. The Forum agreed to mobilise capital, data and policy around soil health, water stewardship, supply-chain transparency and farmer livelihoods, and to bridge agriculture with materials and circularity ahead of the 2026 Stockholm Climate Tech Summit.

The Laghum Philosophy — Do What Is Right, and Balance in Good

Why it matters now

SCLF adopts the Laghum philosophy as our decision compass. “Doing what is right” anchors integrity and science; “balance in good” ensures we optimise across People, Planet, Purpose and Prosperity rather than maximising a single dimension at others’ expense. In practice, this means acting within Planetary Boundaries, protecting human dignity and safety, and creating fair, durable economics for farmers and value-chain partners.

Six signature insights

1. Soil is a strategic asset, not an input.
Soil organic matter and biodiversity underpin yield stability, flood management and carbon sequestration. Investing in living soils is cheaper than paying for climate damages later (Planet, Prosperity).

2. Water risk is now enterprise risk.
Agriculture’s exposure to droughts and deluges converts hydrology into credit risk and price volatility. Water-positive farming (storage, reuse, precision irrigation) is the new licence to operate (Planet, Prosperity).

3. Nitrogen, methane and land use sit inside planetary limits.
The nitrogen cycle, land-system change and biosphere integrity are the farm-level levers that map directly to the Planetary Boundaries framework. Better nutrient management, agroforestry and ruminant methane abatement are non-negotiables (Planet, Purpose).

4. Data creates trust; trust unlocks markets.
Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) for soil carbon, water and biodiversity—interoperable across platforms—turns good practice into bankable outcomes and premium contracts (Purpose, Prosperity).

5. Farmers are frontline climate professionals.
Skills, safety and fair contracts are not “nice-to-have”—they are productivity drivers. Rural education, risk-sharing and cooperative models reduce adoption barriers (People, Prosperity).

6. Diet and materials transitions are demand-side engines.
Protein diversification, food-loss reduction and bio-based materials open new revenue while reducing pressure on land and oceans, linking agriculture directly to Europe’s materials and circularity agenda (Planet, Prosperity).