This article is sponsored by Environmental Defense Fund.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a major win for American businesses, offering companies billions of dollars in tax credits, loans and other incentives to accelerate progress toward environmental sustainability. Many believe it is destined to be transformative — if those incentives are implemented efficiently and effectively.
In this series of articles, business leaders from top companies will share how they are implementing IRA provisions and what advice they would give to other companies eager to capitalize on all the IRA has to offer.
Today, we speak with Chris Adamo, vice president of public affairs and regenerative agriculture policy for Danone North America. Prior to joining Danone, Adamo spent over a decade working on issues related to agriculture, environment and climate change as the chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality; staff director of U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; and legislative counsel for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Victoria Mills: Danone North America was a forceful advocate for the IRA. Why is that? In what ways did you weigh in?
Chris Adamo: As a company with much at stake via climate risk in our supply chain, and one with ambitious climate goals, Danone North America knew we had to engage when Congress began debating comprehensive climate legislation in 2021. We continued to advocate for the climate provisions in that legislation until the passage of the IRA in 2022.
Both as an individual company and through coalitions, such as the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, and with independent advocacy led by our executives, we weighed in to make sure that unprecedented investment in agriculture was enacted. It unlocks significant potential for U.S. farmers and ensures resiliency within the food sector.
We cannot act or achieve meaningful climate impact alone, and policies like the IRA can lift efforts far beyond our scope of business to help transform economic sectors.
Mills: How has the IRA’s passage changed the business context for Danone?
Adamo: In many ways, the investments in agriculture within the IRA confirmed what Danone had already acknowledged — that agriculture and the climate can benefit from impactful and measurable investments.
We have worked with USDA on multiple models of public-private partnerships to increase our scale of on-farm investments across our supply chain with farming partners. Ranging from farm bill programs to the recent USDA effort around Climate-Smart, these partnerships and the benefits they unlock for farms — from improved soil health practices to methane-reducing manure management equipment — are exactly what the IRA’s investment in agriculture can accomplish at scale.
Mills: Which IRA-funded programs and incentives does Danone expect to benefit from?
Adamo: Danone North America had already established partnerships that implement funds authorized by Congress before the IRA’s passage, but the IRA will significantly accelerate our efforts. Farms that supply us and are aware of our intent to cut GHG emissions across our supply chain can seek out funding for projects unique to their operation through locally available programs such as USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) or Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which our team of experts can help farms work through if needed.
Other programs receiving IRA funding such as Conservation Innovation Program or Regional Conservation Partnerships Program (RCPP) allow larger USDA funding for partnerships, such as those with farmers, within an aggregate strategy. Since the USDA announced a request for proposals for the IRA’s partnership funding RCPP in May, Danone has also been actively discussing additional potential investments that may complement our current strategies around dairy methane and diversifying flexitarian options for plant-based products.