Biotechnology and synthetic biology have enormous potential for addressing the environment, climate crisis and loss of biodiversity through more advanced biofuels and “cleaner” agriculture—that is, agricultural processes with less input of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and/or a reduction of carbon dioxide through artificial leaf technology. Nuclear and isotopic techniques to track and quantify carbon, water and nutrient movement and dynamics are also used to increase agricultural productivity, resilience, and the sectors greenhouse gas emissions. In Sudan, the application of climate-smart agriculture has allowed hundreds of women, many of whom are refugees or internally displaced persons, to start small-scale farms and home gardens in extremely arid areas. In some areas, such as digital technologies, which are characterized by very low marginal costs and wide distribution through platforms and networks, performance, cost and applicability across sectors is improving at exponential rates.