Com a agricultura responsável por ~ 25% das emissões globais de estufa e produção agrícola projetada para crescer em ~ 60% até 2050 para atender às demandas de um crescimento
The immense value of healthy soils
Investing in creating healthy soils—earth that is rich in organic matter, microbial life, and nutrients—can unlock a triple-win: carbon sequestration, farmer economics, and crop yield resilience to adverse weather events.
Carbon sequestration: Improved soil health increases soil carbon sequestration (~4.2 tCO2e/hectare/year) by increasing plants’ uptake of nutrients, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizer and its related CO2e emissions. Using Denmark as an example, our analysis of regenerative agriculture’s potential suggests widespread implementation of these practices across the country could have an abatement potential of 4 megatons of CO 2 e P.A. Até 2035 - Rougely 10% do total de 2022 da Dinamarca

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Economia do fazendeiro: Se os agricultores dinamarqueses monetizarem esses 4 megatons de CO 2e through quality carbon offset markets at an average price of ~435-580 DKK /
Moreover, our analysis finds that farmers can expect a ~20-40% EBIT margin uplift by restoring soil health via regenerative farming practices compared to conventional farming, despite a medium-term drop in profitability from shifting
Crop resilience: Finally, healthy soils provide critical resilience against droughts by improving water retention, with studies suggesting that crops grown via regenerative practices hold ~30-40% higher yields in years with severe weather events compared to crops cultivated through conventional farming practices. Soil health will be even more critical in a hotter world experiencing longer and more severe periods of drought.
The role of regenerative agricultural practices
Regenerative agriculture practices are key to cultivating healthy soils. Practices such as cover cropping, no-till, crop rotation, composting, and agroforestry all help optimize the six critical ingredients that determine soil health: adequate moisture, proper soil texture and structure, a healthy microbiome, continuous biomass buildup, balanced pH levels, and stable temperatures. Each of these factors contributes to the formation and maintenance of soil organic matter (SOM) and microbial

Ponte da transição: os agricultores precisarão de suporte
A criação do solo saudável requer tempo e requer um período de transição e transição caro. Durante esse período, normalmente entre 3-6 anos, os agricultores geralmente sofrem rendimentos e lucros mais baixos devido aos investimentos iniciais necessários para a reconstrução da saúde do solo. Os agricultores terão que investir tempo e dinheiro para aumentar as práticas agrícolas regenerativas e implementar novos sistemas para sistemas de MMRV de solo e carbono. Período de transição. Caminhos:
To catalyze change and help overcome these challenges, it is imperative that the Agri-ecosystem, including regulators, banks, FMCGs, and input providers, support farmers with access to finance, knowledge/resources, and risk-sharing mechanisms during this transition period.

The time to act is now: Overcoming key challenges to scaling healthy soils
To reach scale and unlock value generation, leaders and innovators are developing new approaches and solutions to four key challenges.
Unclear financing pathways: Novas abordagens inovadoras para financiar são necessárias. O acúmulo da matéria orgânica do solo leva tempo. Inovadores como a Acordena estão alavancando os mercados globais de carbono para financiar a transição do agricultor para práticas sustentáveis, enquanto jogadores a jusante como o FMCCS estão descascendo a transição do agricultor por meio de acordos de longo prazo e programas de compartilhamento de custos. Finalmente, os bancos desempenharão um papel crucial através de programas de empréstimos que oferecem termos especializados, como taxas reduzidas ou comprimento de termo otimizado vinculado aos resultados regenerativos da agricultura. Essa peça também beneficia os bancos, reduzindo as emissões financiadas e construindo mais portfólios de ativos resilientes ao clima que são menos vulneráveis aos riscos associados a eventos climáticos adversos. Olhando para a Dinamarca, o acordo tripartido dinamarquês promove uma transformação em larga escala das paisagens agrícolas em direção à natureza, criando novas oportunidades comerciais. Com subsídios como o subsídio de redução de fertilizantes de 750 dkk por tonelada co
Policies and incentives: New regulations are needed to support and unlock the value creation from healthy soils. Looking toward Denmark, the Danish Tripartite Agreement promotes a large-scale transformation of agriculture landscapes toward nature, creating new commercial opportunities. With subsidies such as the fertilizer reduction subsidy of 750 DKK per ton CO 2 Evido, os agricultores são incentivados a avançar em direção a práticas regenerativas.
Advancement is also needed on the EU level, an area BCG recently explored with Carlsberg and One Planet Business for Biodiversity
Insufficiently standardized cost-effective MMRV: Os sistemas atuais de medição, monitoramento, relatório e validação (MMRV) usados para medir a saúde do solo geralmente são muito caros para escalar ou muito imprecisos para validar os resultados da agricultura regenerativa, obstruindo a monetização de saudáveis
Missing partnerships and coordination: To scale regenerative landscapes requires systemic change that no single actor can meaningfully create alone. New partnerships across the Agri-value chain are paramount. Large-scale coalitions of farmers, off-takers and financiers, rooted in an understanding of how each entity’s business model is impacted by the transition, can align incentives to share costs and risks and unlock scale advantages.
This rationale underpins the COP28 Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes (AARL), which BCG co-leads together with WBCSD, COP28 UAE and High-Level Climate Champions. By moving the unit of transformation from the individual farm to the entire Agri value chain, the coalition is driving systemic change. In 2024, the AARL saw a collective investment in regenerative agriculture surpass 6B USD—a 300% increase since last year—spanning over 300 projects and 280M hectares.
Healthy soils represent an exciting new opportunity in agriculture as leaders and innovators eye the triple win from increased carbon sequestration and monetization, improved financials, and enhanced crop resilience in a warmer and wetter world. However, unlocking its full transformative potential will require new coalitions and advancements in transition finance, policy, and MMRV.