October 2024 - April 2025

True Cost Accounting Dialogue Series and Summit: Scaling Implementation

Mobilizing the field and accelerating the implementation of True Cost Accounting

The Scaling Implementation Summit will take place on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 April 2025 in Rome, Italy. Visit this page to find out more.

The TCA Dialogue Series and Summit will:
Take Stock
Accelerate Implementation
Inspire and Energize stakeholders

In January 2020, global leaders gathered in Amsterdam with a shared goal: to speed the transition to healthy and resilient agrifood systems by mainstreaming adoption of True Cost Accounting (TCA). Comprising stakeholders from business, philanthropy, government, civil society, and academia, the group drafted an action agenda and launched the TCA Accelerator to coordinate its implementation.

Since 2020, the TCA Accelerator and members of its network have made the case that True Cost Accounting is necessary to transform agrifood systems and address global challenges. The UN Environment Program has proven in case studies around the world that TCA is an indispensable tool for public policy, maximizing benefits for people and nature. TCA is catching on as a mainstream concept - no development better exemplifies this than FAO’s historic decision to feature TCA in consecutive editions of its flagship State of Food and Agriculture report.

Now is the time to capitalize on this momentum, scaling TCA implementation and reducing remaining barriers to its application. We need a new action plan to guide this next phase, informed by an updated understanding of the opportunities and barriers to further advance TCA as a tool for effective decision-making.

What are we doing?

The TCA Dialogue Series and Summit aims to sharpen the focus on, and align the community behind, the work remaining to achieve the transition to healthy and resilient agrifood systems by mainstreaming TCA. With its history of success and role as a trusted convener for the TCA community, the TCA Accelerator will shepherd this vision into a reality.

Take Stock

Through community participation, assess lessons learned from TCA initiatives to date, and identify barriers and opportunities.

Accelerate Implementation

Establish a new TCA agenda, facilitate TCA community knowledge sharing and collaboration, and build bridges between TCA and aligned initiatives.

Inspire and Energize

Secure stakeholder commitments to implement the TCA agenda and engage new and previously underrepresented voices to lead its implementation.

Scaling True Cost Accounting

In order to advance systems change, innovative practices like True Cost Accounting need to take a multidimensional approach to scaling. The TCA Dialogue Series and Summit will be guided and framed by scaling up, scaling out and scaling wide TCA.*

Impacting institutional power

Codifying new approaches in policy and market structures

Impacting greater numbers

Replicating and spreading best practices and principles across a greater number of organizations and communities

Impacting cultural roots

Shifting narratives, value systems, and personal beliefs

How will we do this?

The Dialogue Series will explore barriers and opportunities across the three scaling strategies. The Series is divided into six tracks, with each track hosting an interactive workshop (invite only) and a webinar (open registration). Dialogue inputs will be synthesized to identify common themes, areas of tension and debate, priorities for action, and resourcing needs — all serving to craft a community-led TCA Summit agenda.

Visit the Dialogues page to read more about the workshops.

Global Policy and Action

Private Sector

Finance and Investment

Research and Methodologies

Communications and Advocacy

Aligning Forces

Regional Dialogues

In addition to the Dialogue Series, we are holding Regional Dialogues in Europe, India, Africa and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). Each of these Regional Dialogues will take a slightly different form to suit the current state of TCA in the region.

The Regional Dialogues will seek to Take Stock, Accelerate Implementation and Inspire and Energize, but will also chance for stakeholders to come together and explore particular regional challenges and opportunities for scaling TCA.

If you are interested in learning more, or in taking part in a particular Regional Dialogue, please email rosanna@tcaaccelerator.org.

The Team

Jenn Yates
TCA Accelerator Director

Joanne Cheung
Social Change Strategist and Systems Designer

Rosanna Crawford
Outreach & Communications Coordinator

April Leather
Operations Associate

Teresa Gerner
Project Manager and Event Producer

*Adapted from Moore, Michele-Lee, Darcy Riddell, and Dana Vocisano. “Scaling Out, Scaling Up, Scaling Deep: Strategies of Non-Profits in Advancing Systemic Social Innovation.” The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, no. 58 (2015): 67–84