Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta, part of ChemChina, has announced it will spend $2 billion over the next five years to help farmers tackle the threats posed by climate change.

The Basel-based group said the investment supports its new sustainability goal of delivering at least two technological breakthroughs to market each year.

In addition, CEO Erik Fyrwald has pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of Syngenta’s operations by at least 50% by 2030. This commitment has been validated and endorsed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a partnership between charity CDP, United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The emissions targets form part of Syngenta’s Accelerating Innovation commitment launched in April to address the increased challenges that farmers face as a consequence of climate change, soil erosion and biodiversity loss. Progress against these targets will be reported annually and audited independently.

“Agriculture is now at the front line of global efforts to tackle climate change. Syngenta is committed to accelerating our innovation to find better and ever safer solutions to address the shared challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss,” commented Fyrwald. “These aren’t just words, this is real action that will drive focus in Syngenta to help farmers tackle climate change and reduce the sector’s contribution to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.”

The $2 billion sum will be directed toward programs with “clearly differentiated benefits or breakthrough technologies” that enable a step change in agricultural sustainability, such as land use, soil health and integrated pest management.

in April this year, Syngenta also announced a multi-year collaboration – Innovation for Nature – with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). This will focus on business practices aimed at improving soil health, resource efficiency and habitat protection in Argentina, Brazil, China, Kenya and the US. The alliance combines Syngenta’s R&D capabilities with TNC’s scientific and conservation expertise to scale up sustainable agricultural practices.