COP30: Highlighting the Importance of the Agri-food and Forestry Sectors in Southeast Asia

The recent COP30 may be seen as a failure by some, especially with respect to fossil fuel and deforestation reduction. However, it did see the elevation of the agri-food sector’s role in climate action, the interdependence of agriculture and forestry for sustainability and resilience, and the importance of empowering family farms and indigenous communities for effective action.

COP30, or the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was held in Belém, Brazil (10-21 November 2025). COP30 built on the momentum of COP28 and COP29 to highlight the urgency of mitigation and adaptation in the previously overlooked agri-food sector. Even though the sector contributes globally up to one-third of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), it has historically received only 4 per cent of climate-related development finance, far short of the US$1 trillion needed annually to achieve sustainability.

One major accomplishment of COP30, aside from the skeletal climate action plan (the Belem Package) that 195 countries approved, was the launch of financing for mitigation and adaptation in the agri-food sector. This includes financing cropland degradation reversal, agroecology, agroforestry, decarbonisation innovations, knowledge sharing and collaborations (Table 1), which may address impediments of high upfront costs, long payback timelines and volatile returns. These initiatives are of high relevance to several ASEAN member states (AMS).

Table 1. Selected major initiatives on agri-food & forestry sectors of relevance to AMS

Beyond the above financing options, relevant AMS could raise funds from selling carbon credits in voluntary carbon markets. One report from 2019 suggested that Asia could see revenues of up to $59 billion from addressing top agri-food emissions sources.

It is not definite, however, that the relevant AMS can capitalise on these opportunities. Currently, nearly all AMS’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are sparse on detailed actions in the agri-food sector. AMS should prioritise and develop comprehensive national actions for the agri-food sector that are aligned with the ASEAN Strategy for Carbon Neutrality and harmonised with the NDCs. This may facilitate a whole-of-society movement which could lead to a pipeline of bankable and fundable projects.

For example, Vietnam’s project to grow 1 million hectares of low-carbon rice has attracted financing and technical expertise from international organisations and the private sector. The participating farmers are now able to reach higher-value markets. Other intensifying efforts include developing green technologies which minimise or eliminate use of carbon fuel, such as biological fertilisers based on microorganisms. Such focused national projects could ensure that smallholder farmers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and others similarly benefit.

One major accomplishment of COP30… was the launch of financing for mitigation and adaptation in the agri-food sector.

ASEAN can develop enablers — perhaps an ASEAN Climate Adaptation Collaboratorium, meaning a consortium of like-minded entities collaborating on common goals, could be set up to attract adaptation funding, including from the philanthropic sector. This could include an entity to facilitate collaboration on coastal zone mitigation and resilience measures, including nature-based solutions, and adaptation measures for rice deltas and fishery communities, to prevent the region’s riparian and marine spaces from suffering the tragedy of the commons. ASEAN also needs to agree on a common set of rubrics and metrics for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) for COP implementation. COP30 introduced Global Mutirão, a term loosely translated as “global collective solidarity”. ASEAN can embody this with ‘Gotong-Royong’, a common cultural practice in Southeast Asia, meaning in Malay or Indonesian ‘mutual help’ and community action. The ASEAN community has matured and is cooperating more than ever to address climate change through various mechanisms under the umbrella of the Senior Officials Meeting, ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF), like the ASEAN Technical Working Group on Agricultural Research and Development (ATWGARD). It is imperative that these be further strengthened and prioritised. To do so requires AMS to make inter-sectoral alignments between environment, and agriculture and trade, and to forge more partnerships between their public and private sectors, with their respective civil societies.

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