The Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), the largest global alliance for enhancing food security and addressing climate change, spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates and the United States, announced on Monday that it has nearly doubled its investments, partnerships, and Innovation Sprints in transformative climate-smart agriculture and food systems.

This announcement was made during the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) held in Baku under the slogan "Solidarity for a Green World."

Since the COP28 conference last year, the initiative has experienced remarkable growth, with investment commitments rising from $17 billion to $29.2 billion—an unprecedented increase since the baseline year of 2020.

Partners in the AIM for Climate focus on transforming ambitions into action by fostering innovation in food systems and climate-smart agriculture. Their goal is to address the climate change crisis, enhance climate resilience, and benefit both people and the planet simultaneously.

The initiative has added 52 Innovation Sprints, bringing the total to 129, and the number of worldwide partners has expanded from 600 to over 800.

The investment increase comprises $16.7 billion from government partners and $12.5 billion from the partners involved in the 129 Innovation Sprints.

These investments aim to drive change in food systems and climate-smart agriculture, addressing the pressing climate and food challenges the world faces today.

Each Innovation Sprint targets one or more key areas, including support for smallholders in low- and middle-income countries, the development of emerging technologies, agroecological research, and reducing methane emissions. These goals align with COP29's priorities of mobilizing climate finance, lowering emissions, and developing solutions to adapt to the effects of climate change.

The new investments, partners, and Innovation Sprints were announced by the co-chairs of the AIM for Climate, Dr. Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahhak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the UAE, and Tom Vilsack, US Secretary of Agriculture, at the UAE pavilion during COP29.

Dignitaries at the event emphasized the necessity of adopting bold and innovative approaches in agricultural and food systems to tackle the climate crisis. They highlighted the role of the AIM for Climate in fostering cooperation and collective investments to develop sustainable and resilient agricultural and food practices that address the dual challenges of climate change and global hunger.

The U.S. Center will host a high-level panel, entitled “AIM for Climate: Mobilizing Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation for a Food-Secure Future,” at the UAE Pavilion on November 19. The event will be moderated by Jamie Adams, Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The third AIM for Climate Ministerial Meeting, co-hosted by the UAE and the United States on the sidelines of COP29 on November 20, will review the achievements and ongoing momentum of the initiative. This meeting will also mark the launch of the AIM for Climate Report, titled “Cultivating Transformative Investments in Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems Innovation.”