The Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF) deforestation and conversion free soy production initiative has received an investment of US$85 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF)
McDonald’s Corporation is the latest business to join the Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF), providing funding to support the resilient transformation of Brazil’s soy-producing Cerrado region,
SIM is pleased to announce the appointment of Caio Goodman as an Environmental Analyst. Caio will support the management and development of SIM’s programmes, including
This November SIM and BVRio will participate in the following COP30, and COP adjacent high level international climate talks: See us at: Financial Leadership for
SIM will participate in the inaugural Rio Climate Action Week this month building on its programme of events during London Climate Action Week in July.
The senior tranche of the Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF) 2025 green CRAs has received a ‘brAA (sf)’ credit rating from S&P Global Ratings, equivalent to
Now in its fourth season, the Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF) fund will provide US$60 million in loans to soy farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado, raised
The Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) intends to partner with Sustainable Investment Management (SIM) to support deforestation- and conversion-free (DCF) soy production in
We are pleased to report that the Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF) has been included in the pipeline of projects that will be part of Brazil’s
The Responsible Commodities Facility (RCF) was featured as a concrete example of how innovative, climate-aligned finance can support sustainable agriculture in Brazil. On 25 June
The area of cultivation must not have had any deforestation and conversion of native vegetation since 1 Jan 2020*. Preference will be given to areas converted from abandoned pasture land to soy cultivation after 2008.
Farm land must be registered with the Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR). The farm must contain and maintain areas of native vegetation equivalent to those required for Legal Reserve and Areas of Permanent Protection (APPs) determined by the Forest code or have formally adhered to a Programme of Environmental Regularization (PRA) established by the state environmental agency**. The farm area must not overlap with public protected areas, indigenous lands and other traditional people and community lands (including ‘quilombolas territories’).
Farmers must have unquestionable rights to use the land, be it as a land title or land lease agreement.
Farmers must demonstrate that they and their farms do not contravene any environmental or legal requirements, such as embargoes, environmental irregularities, contraventions of the labour legislation (including slave and child labour), and internationally-accepted rules for the use of agrochemicals.
*Farmers occasionally request the conversion of small areas of native vegetation to conduct farm improvements (building storage areas, water reservoirs, etc.). Provided that these areas are small and not for the purpose of expansion of the agricultural area, RCF analyses and considers them eligible. In order to do so, RCF uses the concept of Minimal Level (of deforestation or conversion) as defined by the Accountability Framework Initiative Terms and Definitions, which states “To be considered consistent with no-deforestation or no-conversion commitments, minimal levels must generally meet the following conditions: Not exceed cumulative thresholds that are small both in absolute terms (e.g., no more than a few hectares) and relative to the area in question (e.g., no more than a small proportion of the site).”
**The RCF analyses Forest Code compliance by looking at single farms (defined as the area covered by a CAR) or bundles of individual CARs that, in combination, result in the desired area of native vegetation put under the protective status of the RCF. This bundling should not be understood as a means of compliance with the Forest Code requirements and is not intended to release the farmer of the regularization process committed under the Forest Code rules (enrolment in the CAR, engagement in a PRA, etc.). In order to differentiate its metrics from those of the Forest Code, the RCF refers to areas of Excess Native Vegetation (ENV) as opposed to Excess Legal Reserve, to avoid confusion with areas legally categorised under the Forest Code.