Leite de Almeida, Ana Carla, Bueno, Carlos, Dale, Allan, Hay, Rachel, Jarihani, Ben, Everingham, Yvette, and Lockie, Stewart (2025) Integration of ESG standards in Australian sugarcane farming: A co-design approach to accelerate ESG adoption and innovation. Agricultural Systems, 229. 104438.

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Abstract

Context Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices have become critical for the agricultural sector, particularly for high-impact and sensitive consumer demand industries like sugarcane. In Australia, the sugarcane industry faces mounting environmental and regulatory pressures, including concerns over nutrient and pesticide runoff affecting the Great Barrier Reef, climate change-driven, water resource challenges, and the need to reduce carbon emissions.

Objective Aiming to enhance environmental performance and facilitate access to environmental markets and new income streams, this research focuses on developing and testing an ESG Rapid Assessment framework tailored to sugarcane farmers in North Queensland, Australia.

Methods In this research we adopted a co-design approach, integrating stakeholder insights and industry needs to develop the ESG tool, to facilitate the adoption of ESG standards on farm.

Results and conclusions Findings highlight the importance of simplified ESG tools, clear implementation roadmaps, and ongoing support to drive adoption. Addressing knowledge gaps, improving data collection, and aligning policy incentives will be crucial for fostering transparency, sustainability, and long-term economic resilience while minimising regulatory burdens. Results from two case studies involving sugarcane producers and stakeholders showed that over 75 % of participants found the ESG assessment easy to use, and 62.5 % considered it valuable in supporting their ESG management. However, only 25 % indicated a willingness to change practices, likely due to prior engagement in sustainability best practices. These findings validate the tool's usability and highlight key barriers and opportunities for ESG adoption in agriculture.

Significance This research offers a practical and innovative tool for North Queensland sugarcane farmers to strengthen their sustainability credentials. The ESG Rapid Assessment tool serves as a gateway to capital and environmental markets, supporting the transition to new decarbonisation pathways. By empowering farmers with actionable insights, the tool can enhance resilience, drive sustainable practices, and contribute to achieve net-zero goals.

Item ID:	89156
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1873-2267
Keywords:	ESG in agriculture; Sustainable sugarcane farming; Environmental markets; Climate resilience; Co-design approach; Regenerative agriculture; Sustainability assessment tools
Copyright Information:	© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).
Funders:	Australian Government's Future Drought Fund
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2025 22:01
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3002 Agriculture, land and farm management > 300208 Farm management, rural management and agribusiness @ 60% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3502 Banking, finance and investment > 350201 Environment and climate finance @ 30% 38 ECONOMICS > 3801 Applied economics > 380101 Agricultural economics @ 10%
SEO Codes:	15 ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK > 1503 Management and productivity > 150302 Management @ 60% 15 ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK > 1503 Management and productivity > 150303 Marketing @ 30% 19 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL HAZARDS > 1901 Adaptation to climate change > 190103 Social impacts of climate change and variability @ 10%
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