To help tackle deforestation driven by commodity production, Sustainable Investment Management launched a strategy incentivising farmers to move away from deforestation and land conversion, earning it this year's 'Impact project/investment of the year: Agriculture and sustainable land use'.

The Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF) provides farmers with a low-interest credit line, through a 'Green Certificate of Receivables from Agribusiness'. Acting similarly to a green bond, this is designed to help finance necessary production inputs, including seeds or fertilisers, and new production methods.

Farmers involved in the programme forego their legal right to clear land. If they are found to have breached the agreement, they will incur a fine and exclusion from the facility.

In its second year of operation, the facility has seen massive levels of expansion from 32 farms to 122, taking deforestation- and land conversion-free soy production to 180,000 tonnes per year. It claims to also have protected around 43,000 hectares of native vegetation.

Investment has also significantly increased, quadrupling from $11 million in 2022 to $47 million in the past year, largely through organisations concerned with the impact of soy deforestation and land conversion within their supply chains – including UK supermarkets and large banks. It expects to scale the programme up to $200 million in 2025.

Pedro Moura Costa, director of Sustainable Investment Management and founder of RCF, said: "We are thrilled that the RCF has been recognised as best in its class with this award, and we are proud of the impact this mechanism has delivered for its investors, for Brazil and for the planet."