ESG Investing
New Zealand farms are faced with major challenges; variable weather, droughts, flooding, soil erosion and water quality to name a few. Seedling invests in agricultural systems that deliver for people, planet and profit to deliver returns that are Regenerative. Robust. And Resilient.
External drivers such as climate risk, market demands, regulatory requirements and social license mean ESG has evolved from existing on the fringe to become a material topic and a core component of good business. Further, research confirms that institutions that successfully integrate ESG into operations outperform their competition (Deloitte, 2023).
Through extensive research and analysis, we have developed an ESG framework to gain a deep understanding of land systems and mitigate risk. Our ESG Approach ESG refers to the environmental, social and governance aspects of doing business and can be used to understand risk and performance. Through our expertise in finance, agriculture and sustainability, we have built the investment framework to measure and report against key ESG criteria in order to ensure investments are credible, quantified and transparent.
Our process includes: Assess → Benchmark → Measure → Disclose
We collect primary data directly from farms using technology and use best practice methodologies to measure core ESG metrics including: Environment Our land systems invest in taking action to reduce emissions whilst working with nature. This allows seedling farms to mitigate and adapt to climate risks whilst building natural capital. We measure this through: Soil monitoring Biodiversity Water GHG emissions Energy source Social The well being of the land rests on the well being of our land managers. People and rural communities are at the core of what we do. To support this, Seedling has a robust social program including: Capability building & employee engagement Health and safety Animal health and welfare.
Governance Effective governance is essential to ensure that ESG ambitions are translated into concrete action.
To achieve our ambitions Seedling has effective programs policies and controls including: Leadership Governance Leadership integrity / training related to ESG criteria Compliance with environmental + employment legislation Portfolio Reporting Data collected against key criterion is aggregated into key impact metrics. These are aligned with national and global reporting standards including the Task force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the sustainable development goals (SDG’s).
We also leverage frameworks such as the EU taxonomy and the sustainable agriculture finance initiative (SAFI) guidance to ensure investments align with environmentally sustainable economic activities. Nationally and Globally, sustainable agriculture standards and taxonomies are an evolving space with New Zealand’s agriculture taxonomy set to be published in 2025. We intend to continue to following evolution closely to continue to improve, refine and align our approach. Assurance - third party expertise and verification Where possible, we leverage external consultants to provide technical expertise and certification.
To drive efficiencies, we use robust existing assurance schemes including: Sheep and Beef in NZ High country: Ecological Outcome Verification: Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) is operated by the Savory Institute and is an empirically-based data collection protocol that serves as the cornerstone for market claims. It underpins the Land to Market (L2M) program—a sourcing solution that connects brands and retailers with farms and ranches worldwide verified as regenerating their land—and the Savory Foundation’s large scale, high-integrity carbon projects.
EOV is a practical and scalable soil and landscape assessment methodology that tracks outcomes in biodiversity, water, soil health, and ecosystem function (i.e. water cycle, mineral cycle, energy flow, and community dynamics). Dairy Currently there are no standards that work well for NZ dairy, so we focus on our interpretation of whats right. It’s really quite simple, Improve the soils, water ways and biodiversity.
External drivers such as climate risk, market demands, regulatory requirements and social license mean ESG has evolved from existing on the fringe to become a material topic and a core component of good business. Further, research confirms that institutions that successfully integrate ESG into operations outperform their competition (Deloitte, 2023).
Through extensive research and analysis, we have developed an ESG framework to gain a deep understanding of land systems and mitigate risk. Our ESG Approach ESG refers to the environmental, social and governance aspects of doing business and can be used to understand risk and performance. Through our expertise in finance, agriculture and sustainability, we have built the investment framework to measure and report against key ESG criteria in order to ensure investments are credible, quantified and transparent.
Our process includes: Assess → Benchmark → Measure → Disclose
We collect primary data directly from farms using technology and use best practice methodologies to measure core ESG metrics including: Environment Our land systems invest in taking action to reduce emissions whilst working with nature. This allows seedling farms to mitigate and adapt to climate risks whilst building natural capital. We measure this through: Soil monitoring Biodiversity Water GHG emissions Energy source Social The well being of the land rests on the well being of our land managers. People and rural communities are at the core of what we do. To support this, Seedling has a robust social program including: Capability building & employee engagement Health and safety Animal health and welfare.
Governance Effective governance is essential to ensure that ESG ambitions are translated into concrete action.
To achieve our ambitions Seedling has effective programs policies and controls including: Leadership Governance Leadership integrity / training related to ESG criteria Compliance with environmental + employment legislation Portfolio Reporting Data collected against key criterion is aggregated into key impact metrics. These are aligned with national and global reporting standards including the Task force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the sustainable development goals (SDG’s).
We also leverage frameworks such as the EU taxonomy and the sustainable agriculture finance initiative (SAFI) guidance to ensure investments align with environmentally sustainable economic activities. Nationally and Globally, sustainable agriculture standards and taxonomies are an evolving space with New Zealand’s agriculture taxonomy set to be published in 2025. We intend to continue to following evolution closely to continue to improve, refine and align our approach. Assurance - third party expertise and verification Where possible, we leverage external consultants to provide technical expertise and certification.
To drive efficiencies, we use robust existing assurance schemes including: Sheep and Beef in NZ High country: Ecological Outcome Verification: Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) is operated by the Savory Institute and is an empirically-based data collection protocol that serves as the cornerstone for market claims. It underpins the Land to Market (L2M) program—a sourcing solution that connects brands and retailers with farms and ranches worldwide verified as regenerating their land—and the Savory Foundation’s large scale, high-integrity carbon projects.
EOV is a practical and scalable soil and landscape assessment methodology that tracks outcomes in biodiversity, water, soil health, and ecosystem function (i.e. water cycle, mineral cycle, energy flow, and community dynamics). Dairy Currently there are no standards that work well for NZ dairy, so we focus on our interpretation of whats right. It’s really quite simple, Improve the soils, water ways and biodiversity.