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This is the story of the Regenerative Agriculture Accelerator Programme, a pioneering eight-week programme that brought together environmental consultancy Bright Tide and a coalition of industry leaders to support a cohort of ventures addressing climate change, biodiversity loss and food security.
As a founding partner, Kennedys is proud to have supported this innovative programme, which has enabled our lawyers to help ventures in addressing their risk management priorities and insurance challenges, while also offering expert legal insights and a unique platform for collaboration with other social entrepreneurs and like-minded businesses aiming to pioneer sustainable practices.
Through these collaborative efforts, we embraced the opportunity to develop innovative solutions by breaking down silos and collaborating with corporate partners and future inventors - who we hope to one day represent as clients – as they embark on scaling their impact businesses towards creating a thriving world for all.
Aims of the programme
- Collaboration with climate and biodiversity consultancy, Bright Tide offering opportunities to:
- Promote sustainable agriculture (land) and aquaculture (sea) practices
- Support 20 global ventures developing solutions for climate change, biodiversity loss and food security
- Kennedys assisted ventures with risk management and insurance challenges, with the aim to drive transition towards sustainable climate-resilient food system and mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change.
The businesses selected to take part were:
- On land: Nunwell Farm, New Foundation Farms, Wildfarmed, Gentle Farming, Sea Water Solutions, Agreed Earth, Tierra Foods, Chirrup AI, ReGeneration and Afro Valley.
- At sea: Algapelago, Atlantic Mariculture, Pine Island Redfish, Aquit, Three-Sixty Aquaculture, Ficosteera, Healthy Seaweed Cafe, Oyster Restoration Company, Ole Blu and Sea Ventures.
Of these businesses selected, 50% are led by women, and 9 countries are represented by ventures.
Read our interview with Megan Sorby, CEO of Pine Island Red Fish.
An insight into the global food system: where we are now
The world’s food system is at a crossroads. Agriculture alone threatens 24,000 species globally, and many marine fish stocks are overexploited. Our global Forecast 2024: evolving insurance risks report only underscores the urgency: biodiversity loss and climate risks are inextricably linked, challenging industries and communities alike. Kennedys, together with Bright Tide and other founding partners, sought to bridge gaps in support of ventures pioneering sustainable agricultural and aquacultural practices.
Every day, regenerative farmers struggle against financial and systemic barriers to transform their operations. Regulatory complexities, financing mismatches, and technical hurdles create substantial obstacles for early-stage ventures in this space. Recognising these challenges, Kennedys joined Bright Tide to support the ventures the necessary resources, from technical and legal advice to opening our industry networks. We want them to feel supported in their journey and were ready to assist them, even beyond the programme.
Activities and events: meeting industry peers, gaining insights and learning from the pioneers
The programme began in January 2024, with a launch event at Hogan Lovells in London. Over 80 participants, including Climate Minister Rt Hon Kerry McCarthy, gathered to discuss the future of regenerative agriculture and aquaculture. Kerry McCarthy’s message was clear: “We know our food system is broken,” emphasising the need for innovation across both land and sea. The event spotlighted ventures like Chirrup AI, Tierra Foods, and Sea Water Solutions - businesses at the forefront of developing regenerative practices that harness nature’s power to foster environmental and economic resilience.
This was followed by a reception at the UK House of Commons. Nick Thomas, Senior Partner represented Kennedys with an opening speech and joined over 130 attendees, including MPs, industry experts like Vincent Doumeizel, author of The Seaweed Revolution, the event underscored the critical role of regenerative practices in addressing climate and biodiversity challenges. Doumeizel’s passionate discussion on seaweed’s potential brought the audience into the vision of ocean regeneration, echoing the interconnected impact we are seeking to foster through Thrive Together: our unified approach to make in an impact in our communities.
An excerpt taken from Nick Thomas's introductory remarks during the House of Commons launch:
"Although this is our first foray into regenerative farming, we have collaborated with clients on sustainable initiatives, thought leadership relating to climate risks and the role insurance can play in mitigating climate change.
As a responsible global business, it is integral that we immerse ourselves in the issues faced by the ventures and biodiversity loss in general and we will bring new ideas to our clients, colleagues and the wider ecosystem to ultimately have a positive impact on mitigating biodiversity loss."
Empowering ventures with essential resources
The following morning, we hosted a breakfast at our London office and welcomed nine land and ocean farmers. Joined by our lawyers, the session offered participants a unique chance to meet and hear from the ventures about ways the insurance sector can foster innovation, collaboration and support the growth of their impact businesses.
The breakfast briefing is a great example of how ideas can be exchanged, and solutions found through discussing and listening to honest accounts of challenges.
Our next event, focused on new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation. Harry Wright introduced our BNG webinar in which Tim Stansfeld, Legal Director at Kennedys and Henry Parkinson of the Langley Abbey Environment project discussed all aspects of BNG, including the biodiversity gain hierarchy.
Showcasing the ventures progress
The Venture Showcase Event at Barclays in Canary Wharf brought together over 120 stakeholders, including investors and policymakers, eager to see how each venture had evolved. Andy Cato, founder of Wildfarmed, delivered a keynote on the transformative potential of regenerative farming, echoing the programme's mission to inspire broad-scale change.
The ventures left the event with new partnerships and opportunities, illustrating the success of collaborative action in fostering sustainable transformation.
Emily Clift, Legal Director, spoke on behalf of the firm. Addressing the 120-strong audience, she said:
“It’s been a privilege for Kennedys to be involved in this Accelerator. Kennedys is a global law firm that helps business and insurers identify and deal with risks. We have a passion for environmental sustainability, and it’s of particular importance to our insurer clients who know how much ecology and climate change impact on their bottom line.
Our role in the Accelerator has been to help bridge the gap between these amazing agri-tech businesses and the insurance world. It has already helped start conversations about opportunities for insurers to better support innovation in agriculture, and help address a global problem.”
Programme highlights and key successes
The Regenerative Farming Accelerator Impact Report, published in October 2024 outlined the gaps identified and tackled and the successes of the programme.
40+ hours of tailored supportWorkshops and mentoring on risk management, biodiversity risk, and technical skills, strengthening ventures’ capacity to scale and innovate. |
Expanded networks and partnershipsEvents like the House of Commons reception created connections, including partnerships with our clients, AXA XL and Howdens. This has resulted in AXA XL collaborating with Bright Tide on their upcoming Sustain AI Accelerator, further enhancing our shared commitment to collaborating with our clients on sustainable innovation. |
Increased confidence in regulatory navigationVentures gained practical strategies to meet regulatory demands, enabling them to shape growth strategies with resilience and compliance. |
The path ahead: building a regenerative future
Through our partnership with Bright Tide and others, Kennedys is committed to advancing regenerative farming practices that restore ecosystems and enhance nature restoration. We are not only supporting innovative ventures but are building a foundation of collective action - a unified effort that echoes through Thrive Together’s guiding principle of global collaboration to make an impact in the communities where we live and work.
Harry Wright, CEO and founder of Bright Tide:
"It has been an incredible experience working closely with Kennedys Law LLP over the last 3 years. As a lawyer myself, being able to work with a firm that has such a commitment to sustainable impact has been fantastic, and we have learned a lot through working with the firm and especially about the vital role that insurance can play in helping to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis that we face.
Working with the Kennedys team has been a pleasure, and I am very proud of the work that we have done together on this latest venture. Through Kennedys, we have also met new clients, such as AXA XL, and have continued to build our knowledge and expertise in the insurance sector.
As a social enterprise ourselves, this is vital for us and for our growth. Kennedys was our first law firm client, and we look forward to our continued relationship for years to come."