This comprehensive Future Brief from Science for Environment Policy examines the research around ‘impact investment’; those investments which are directed towards generating measurable social and/or environmental impacts, in addition to a financial return. The report focuses on investments in Europe, although it includes a case study of sustainable teak plantation in Panama.

A group of investors, worth $1.25 trillion, has contributed to a report calling for food companies to change the way in which they include protein in their products to reduce environmental risk. The FAIRR initiative’s report – The Future of Food: The Investment Case for a Protein Shake Up – argues that forward-looking investors and businesses should act now to help shape a new market in sustainable protein, with less of this macronutrient coming from animals, and more from plants (and perhaps from insects and algae).

The newly elected Australian conservative government makes a clear break from the previous government – led by climate skeptic Prime Minister Tony Abott – after announcing more funding for climate science.

This report by Dutch multinational banking and financial services company, Rabobank, argues for the need for a so-called “smarter food system” – that is, a food system incorporating and harnessing the latest technology at every stage, although they place particular emphasis on production-side measures.

This article by the CGIAR’s Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) programme, discusses a new paper that evaluates the impact of investments in agricultural research capacity and research and development (R&D) on adaptation and mitigation.  It argues that when it comes to improving the resilience of crops to climate change, local innovation needs to go hand in hand with more external funding aimed at improving agricultural research capacity.

This article in Environment Magazine (MIT press) discusses so called “ESG” investments - environmental, social, and governance  investment criteria. The article charts the history of socially and environmentally responsible investments and argues that screening of assets with environmental, social, or governance parameters in mind is growing.

The food and agriculture (F&A) industry must increase production, availability and access to food significantly over the next ten years if it is to meet the demands of a larger, increasingly urban global population according to a new report presented by Rabobank at Expo Milano 2015.

This article from Nasdaq describes what they call a “shocking” reduction in meat consumption and how this may impact the meat industry and other sectors. The potential catalyst they argue is the release of preliminary recommendations from the committee of medical and nutrition experts involved in developing USDA dietary guidelines.