Geora sets the stage for lenders to provide better interest rates for more sustainable farmers

Today, Australian agri-tech start-up, Geora, announces the official launch of their sustainable finance offering.

The platform now connects Australian farmers with better financing options to empower a more sustainable agricultural industry. Geora’s mission since launch in 2020 has been to solve the climate crisis with financial incentives, building a world where the most profitable way to farm is also the greenest.

For farmers, data proving nature and climate impact can be one of their biggest assets.

Nature and climate risks are two of the biggest factors that lenders must take into account when financing farmers. The Geora platform creates loan profiles that assess farmers against five key impact metrics: soil, water, biodiversity, climate and animal welfare.

“At Geora we have built a platform that derisks lending to farmers, and provides a way to deliver better, cheaper, targeted finance to build a greener future in agriculture.”

Said Geora’s CEO and Cofounder, Bridie Ohlsson.

“There is an increasing population drawn by heartstrings, and sometimes legislation, to be more sustainable. However not everyone has that option or opinion. To move the bulk of conventional agriculture, that’s 570 million farmers worldwide, to more sustainable practices we need to align the financial incentives with better, nature and climate outcomes.”

Farmers are already undertaking sustainable practices, and these financial instruments exist. Without accurate and secure data analysis and sharing, both parties are missing out.

Recognising impact on farm

For Australian farmers, Geora helps to make the most of all the good practices already underway across the farm. By combining data from on-farm records and systems to build a complete nature and climate impact assessment of the farming operation, farmers use their sustainability data to access better loan conditions and interest rates.

This process of taking farm data and turning it into impact metrics is highlighting the profiles of farmers who are high quality loan recipients. According to Ohlsson, “Farmers who have stronger nature and climate profiles are better farms to lend to. They have more consistent yields, receive premiums, their soil is more valuable, and their inputs to income ratio is better. Ultimately they can be more profitable and more resilient businesses to lend to.”

One such operation is the Leather Cattle Company in Banana QLD, owned and operated by Melinee and Rob Leather, who worked with Geora to track and report sustainability metrics for their NAB Agri Green Loan.

"Increasingly the beef industry is being asked by customers and consumers to provide evidence around environmental and animal welfare credentials. I see platforms such as Geora giving producers the tool to visibly track and report on their outcomes in a transparent manner" said Melinee Leather

"Geora can be the one stop shop for reporting and tracking changes across all of the metrics that the beef industry uses when communicating sustainability outcomes across the supply chain including banks and global markets."

Geora's commitment to lenders

For financiers, Geora helps lenders move beyond traditional loan profiles to incorporate the real cost of nature and climate impact in their credit and risk models. Sustainable finance benefits the entire economy, and the Geora platform provides the impact assessment and integrity to unlock these products at scale.

The Geora platform actively collaborates with financiers to mitigate risks and expand sustainable finance strategies. Through the Geora platform, the company supports the complete financial lifecycle, from loan origination to impact reporting and overall fund management for internal and external stakeholders. Farm profiles align with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting frameworks and targets including Accounting for Nature, Climate Bonds Initiative, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

Providing proof of impact

The integrity of the Geora platform is built on a blockchain-backed cryptographic audit log and data integrity framework. This provides a secure and trusted mechanism for farmers and lenders to exchange information.

Geora runs a private ethereum blockchain which stores the impact metrics, calculations and underlying data sets for every farm profile. With a growing set of integrations to on-farm software and physical devices, the platform gives an audit trail of the underlying proof points that contribute to overall nature and climate impact.

Since this is in a distributed data model it can be relied upon by multiple parties as they make financing decisions

Building momentum for sustainable change

“We have built Geora to be more than a software platform; it's a catalyst for change. By providing access to better finance, we empower farmers to embrace sustainable practices. Bringing lenders into the transition journey builds a stronger path towards a more sustainable agricultural sector.” said Ohlsson.

Australian farmers are encouraged to check their eligibility for better lending products by creating a free farm profile in Geora to generate their credit and impact scores.