As climate change accelerates pressure on global freshwater systems, COFCO International has been featured in a new World Economic Forum report for advancing climate-resilient agricultural practices across its operations. The report was released last week at the WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China.

Titled From Scarcity to Solutions: Food-Water Innovation in Asia and the Middle East, the report warns that water demand is set to outstrip supply by 40% within five years. With agriculture accounting for 70% of global freshwater withdrawals, the agriculture sector faces mounting risks from climate-driven drought, over-extraction, and degraded ecosystems.

COFCO International, the overseas agribusiness platform of COFCO Corporation, is recognised in the report for deploying scalable innovations that address the food-water-climate nexus. These include integrating sustainable soy into sugarcane plantations in Brazil through crop rotation, which has improved soil health, reduced fertilizer use, and boosted yields by up to 10% over five years.

The company also uses organic nitrogen from vinasse, a by-product of sugar processing, to gradually replace mineral fertilizers, cutting greenhouse gas emissions tied to conventional inputs.

On the emissions front, the report highlights COFCO International's efforts to adopt a low-carbon, nature-positive sourcing strategy, avoiding soy and corn sourced from regions with recent deforestation. In 2024, its Scope 3 emissions intensity from soy and corn fell 9% and 14% respectively compared to its 2021 baseline year.

As an example of business model innovation, the report highlights COFCO International's landmark $600 million sustainability-linked loan from Singapore-based OCBC Bank which further supported the company's climate commitments. The loan, signed in 2024, offers interest rate incentives based on progress toward land-use emissions targets and builds on previous multilateral sustainability-linked facilities.

Additionally, COFCO International's Responsible Agriculture Standard, aligned with the European Feed Manufacturers'Federation (FEFAC), underpins a 1.5-million-tonne certified soybean supply agreement with Chinese dairy producer Mengniu.

The WEF report highlights that COFCO International's model – linking traceability, sustainable trade, and climate-aligned finance – provides a blueprint for scaling resilient food systems. However, it cautions that broader transformation hinges on greater smallholder participation and cross-sector coordination.

The full report is available on the World Economic Forum's website:

https://www.weforum.org/publications/from-scarcity-to-solutions-food-water-innovation-in-asia-and-the-middle-east/