Climate Action in the Agri-Food Sector: 7 Trends to Watch in 2026

The climate landscape for Food & Beverage (F&B) companies is shifting faster than at any point in the last decade.

From heightened stakeholder expectations and evolving regulatory requirements, to converging standards and rapid advancements in technology, the way companies account for, report and manage carbon emissions is evolving rapidly.

Even as trade agreements and political focus remain fluid, market forces dominate and climate action is transforming from a voluntary exercise into a mission-critical operational capability.

In 2026, the F&B companies that can measure, report, and reduce emissions with confidence will gain a competitive edge — in procurement, capital access, and supply chain positioning.

Here are seven forces shaping 2026 and simple actions leaders can take now:

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1. New, Updated & Converging Standards.

Major global climate standards are shifting their goalposts.

2026 will bring important updates to key carbon and climate related standards, including: The first major revision to GHG Protocol Corporate Standard in over a decade, release of the GHG Protocol’s new Land Sector & Removals Standard, updates to SBTi’s Corporate Net Zero Standard, new Net Zero standard under ISO and evolution across carbon credit standards.

Alongside these updates, efforts to align existing frameworks, such as the convergence between the GHG Protocol and ISO standards, aim to streamline carbon accounting.

Together, these changes aim to reduce fragmentation across reporting requirements and guide organizations toward clearer methodologies, improved Scope 3 guidance, and stronger links between targets and real-world decarbonization pathways.

F&B Takeaway — Stay aligned, don’t fall behind

Understand and track changes to understand potential impacts and ensure your accounting practices evolve in step. If working with 3rd party vendors, confirm platforms/providers are updating methodologies to keep you aligned and compliant.

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2. Mandatory Climate Disclosures Go Global.

New rules implemented and announced across Australia, Singapore, China, India and more.

While headlines highlighted trade fluidity and political pushback in 2025, the global direction is unmistakable - more companies must measure and report emissions to stay compliant and competitive in an evolving global marketplace.

2026 brings new mandated disclosures globally from Australia to Singapore along with newly announced developments from major countries including China and India. Existing requirements such as CSRD will gain momentum and continue to evolve over time.

Regulations are also increasingly cross-border — meaning F&B companies, including those in Canada, will feel more pressure in 2026 even if laws don’t apply directly.

F&B Takeaway — Know your exposure‍

Map your regulatory risk now and assess readiness. This shift presents both a risk and opportunity for Food and Beverage businesses. Companies must first understand their current and future exposure to regulatory requirements and then develop a plan to meet those requirements which typically starts with measurement of carbon emissions.

3. Customer Expectations Are Rising - Fast.

Customers, including retailers, are quietly shifting from “encouraging” to “requiring”.

In 2025 climate transparency started showing up in RFP's, supplier performance evaluations and supplier qualification processes.

As larger players at the top of the chain move closer to target deadlines including retailer 2027 supplier engagement targets under SBTi, 2026 will see acceleration in climate expectations ripple through the supply chain.

Climate disclosure will be increasingly viewed as an operational must-have by all customers and increasingly factored into procurement and contract decisions. Moving beyond disclosure to action and showing progress around decarbonization will help companies differentiate and win more shelf space in 2026 and beyond.

F&B Takeaway — Baseline, plan, act

In 2026, suppliers that cannot produce defensible emissions data — and show progress — may lose shelf space to those who can. Have a Scope 1&2 baseline with science based targets to start then expand to Scope 3.

Customers, including retailers have their own internal targets and will be feeling pressure to show progress. Suppliers who can help their customers, will win - this starts with understanding the climate commitments, targets and objectives of each customer.

Co-packers of private label products are well served to bring reductions to the table while brands can illustrate how they help decarbonize specific category(s).

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4. Capital Markets Accelerate Climate Requirements

2026 will see Banks, lenders, and investors tightening expectations as sustainable finance frameworks expand.

Sustainable finance taxonomies — now being adopted or developed in nearly 70 jurisdictions — will increasingly dictate which activities qualify as “green” capital deployment. This will influence the availability and cost of capital, filtering down from major global lenders to private equity, commercial lenders, and funding bodies.

F&B Takeaway — Understand the finance lens‍

Understand how your data will be assessed. Carbon performance is becoming an underwriting factor — companies must demonstrate audit-ready data and clear plans to improve in order to secure financing at the lowest rates.

5. Product Carbon Footprints Take Center Stage

Scope 3 pressure is shifting from the corporate level to the product level.

Regulators, lenders and retailers increasingly want impacts tied to individual SKUs, not just corporate roll-ups. Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) are becoming essential for: category negotiations, packaging claims, procurement decisions along with product innovation and reformulation.

This shift reflects growing pressure from customers, regulators, and standards bodies to understand emissions across the full value chain. As a result, carbon accounting and emissions management will become even more deeply intertwined with procurement, supplier management, and product design.

F&B Takeaway — Start with your hero products‍

PCF’S provide a lot of value and technology has made them accessible to companies of any size. From serving as a proxy materiality assessment to identifying hotspots across the value chain and informing product development, PCF’S are worth their weight in gold.

Start with your marquee products - a handful of well-chosen PCFs can act as a roadmap, identify hotspots, and guide investment.

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6. From Reporting to Real Decarbonization

Measurement is the starting point — action is the differentiator.

2025 spotlighted a wave of innovation across: farm practices & regenerative systems, packaging design and circularity systems, energy/heat and process upgrades, food loss & waste reduction and on-site renewables.

2026 will see an accelerated wave of innovation around decarbonization with the new year also bringing a new unlock: financed decarbonization - lenders and utilities are offering green or sustainable financing tied directly to climate performance.

F&B Takeaway — Collaborate early and broadly‍

Decarbonization adds real business value, including significant cost savings that compound when customers, suppliers and partners row in the same direction.

Work with banks, suppliers, and customers to co-fund decarbonization — the incentives now exist and will expand throughout 2026.

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7. Technology Scales & Specializes

Technology is reshaping how organizations measure and manage carbon.

Carbon measurement platforms are advancing quickly with new capabilities emerging at scale including: automated / integrated data collection, supplier data ingestion via API, AI-supported hotspot analysis & forecasting, farm-level primary data collection and real-time dashboards for rapid decision-making.

Platforms are also converging — supporting not just measurement and reporting but active emissions reduction planning and execution.

As capabilities grow, platforms are also getting more specialized — generalists vs. industry experts.

F&B Takeaway — Choose technology built for your sector‍

Agri-food complexity demands sector-specific models and emission factors. A generalist platform built for “all industries” cannot match the nuance required of agricultural supply chains.

For the highly complex agri-food sector, it is particularly important for F&B companies to partner with sector specific providers to ensure quality & accuracy while maximizing impact.

Conclusion — The Future Isn’t Voluntary

2026 marks the year where carbon measurement and management shifts from a nice to have to a strategic business capability, influencing:

✔ market share and shelf space
✔ margins
✔ access to capital
✔ competitiveness
✔ innovation

F&B companies that invest early will lead — those who delay, risk being left behind.

If you’re serious about winning in a low-carbon economy, now’s the time to act.

CarbonOne helps you uncover risks, unlock opportunity, and build a climate strategy that gives you a competitive edge in 2026 and beyond.

Book a demo today or request your no-cost Climate Snapshot to get started.

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