 | This article'stone or style may not reflect theencyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia'sguide to writing better articles for suggestions.(May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sustainability standards and certifications arevoluntary guidelines used by producers, manufacturers, traders, retailers, and service providers to demonstrate their commitment to good environmental, social, ethical, and food safety practices. There are over 400 suchstandards across the world.[1]
The trend started in the late 1980s and 1990s with the introduction ofEcolabels andstandards fororganic food and other products. Most standards refer to thetriple bottom line of environmental quality, social equity, and economic prosperity.[2] Astandard is normally developed by a broad range of stakeholders and experts in a particular sector and includes a set of practices or criteria for how a crop should be sustainably grown or a resource should be ethically harvested.
This might cover, for instance, responsible fishing practices that do not endanger marine biodiversity or respect for human rights, and the payment of fair wages on a coffee or tea plantation. Normally sustainability standards are accompanied by a verification process – often referred to as "certification" – to evaluate that an enterprise complies with a standard, as well as a traceability process forcertified products to be sold along thesupply chain, often resulting in a consumer-facing label.
Certification programs also focus on capacity building and working with partners and other organizations to support smallholders or disadvantaged producers to make the social and environmental improvements needed to meet thestandard.
The basic premise of sustainability standards is two-fold:
A leading example of a consumer standard is theFairtrade movement, administered byFLO International and exhibiting huge sales growth around the world for ethically sourced produce.[4] An example of aB2B standard that has grown tremendously in the last few years is theForest Stewardship Council's standard (FSC) for forest products made from sustainably harvested trees.
The line between consumer and B2B sustainability standards is becoming blurred, with leading trade buyers increasingly demandingFairtrade certification, for example, and consumers increasingly recognizing the FSC mark[5]. In recent years[when?], the business-to-business focus of sustainability standards has risen as it has become clear that consumer demand alone cannot drive the transformation of major sectors and industries.[citation needed] Incommodities such aspalm oil,soy, farmedseafood, andsugar,certification initiatives are targeting the mainstream adoption of better practices and pre-competitive industry collaboration. Major brands and retailers are also starting to make commitments tocertification in their whole supply chain or product offering, rather than a single product line or ingredient.[citation needed]
The number of Sustainability Standards has continued to grow; currently, there are around 264 active VSS (according to theInternational Trade Center Standards Map) in 194 countries and 15 sectors,[6] and about 457ecolabels (according to Ecolabel Index) in 199 countries, and 25 industry sectors.[7][8]
Sustainability standards can be categorized as eithervoluntary consensus standards orprivate standards.International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an example of anstandards organization who developinternational standards following avoluntary consensus process for sustainability under Technical Committee 207, Environmental management and Technical Committee 268, Sustainable cities and communities.[9] These Committees connect with Technical Committee 61, Plastics working on mandates such standards for eliminating plastic pollution.[10] In September 2023, ISO and theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Statement of Intent, as a joint commitment to the role of International Standards in addressing sustainability.[11]
Many of theinternational standards developed to help guide sustainability goals and certification schemes originate from theUnited Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).[12] The FAO has promulgated several standards for certifying bodies to adhere to. In particular, the FAO has issued guidelines and standards designed to make agriculture, fisheries, and forestry more sustainable.
Some of the sustainability standards were initiated bysocial movements in particular countries, such asRainforest Alliance in the United States andFairtrade certification in the Netherlands.[citation needed] Standards were initiated by individual companies, usingprivate standards, such asUtz Certified (Ahold), C.A.F.E. Practices (Starbucks), and Nespresso AAA (Nespresso).
With the objective ofstandard harmonization, somestandards were launched by coalitions of private firms (also referred to asmultistakeholder governance, development agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders, such as theMarine Stewardship Council, or MSC standard, developed as a collaboration betweenUnilever and theWorld Wildlife Fund. For example, theCommon Code for the Coffee Community (4C) was initiated by an alliance of large American coffee roasters, includingKraft Foods,Sara Lee, andNestle, assisted by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (GIZ).
One important facilitator of the development of most globalstandards was a series of local development projects involving NGOs, coffee roasters, and producers in different developing countries. For example, the Fairtradeprivate standard was developed based on pilot projects with Mexican farmers. 4C builds on development projects in Peru, Colombia, and Vietnam, involving GIZ, major coffee roasters, and local producers.[13]
The most widely established and adopted standards are in agriculture, with 40% of globalcoffee production certified to one of the main schemes, and approximately 15–20% ofcocoa andtea production being compliant with majorinternational standards. Forestry andwild seafood are also sectors in which standards have been influential, with certified production pushing past 10% of the global share. Cotton,palm oil,soy,biofuels and farmed seafood are some of the commodities in whichcertification is growing the fastest, due in part to major roundtables that have been set up to bring the whole industry together. More recently, standards have started to emerge formining and the extraction of metals – including gold, silver, aluminium, and oil and gas – as well as for cattle, electronics, plastics and tourism.[14]
Evidence suggests thatCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) adopted willingly by firms can be more effective than government-regulated CSR so global standards by private companies show promise for effective social impact.[15] Counter-arguments are discussed which express concerns around private sector, corporation-led,multistakeholder governance who adopt "weak or narrow standards" that "better serve corporate interests than rights holder interests" for self-regulation in the absence of government regulation.[16][17][18]
The creation of theISEAL Alliance as a private organization in 2002 was the first collaborative effort amongst a group of sustainability standards organizations to agree to follow common good practices forharmonized standards implementation and also to work together to drive up the use ofprivate standards andcertification globally. In 2022, ISEAL reported 42% of their funding came from government grants. With generoussupport from organizations such as TheWalmart Foundation,Fairtrade USA andRainforest Alliance.[19]
Numerous sustainability standards have been developed to address issues of environmental quality,social equity, andeconomic prosperity in global production and trade practices. Despite similarities in major goals andcertification procedures, there are some significant differences in terms of their historical development, target groups of adopters, geographical diffusion, and emphasis on environmental, social, or economic issues.[20]
One of the major differences is based on the level of strictness of thestandard. Some standards set the bar high for a sector, promoting strong social and environmental practices and working with the top performers to constantly push up sustainability expectations.[citation needed] Other standards are more focused on eliminating the worst practices and operate at more of an entry level to get a large proportion of an industry working incrementally towards better practices. Often there are strategies between standards to move producers along this performance ladder of sustainability[21] Another important distinction is that some standards can be applied internationally (usually with mechanisms to ensure local relevance and appropriateness), in contrast other standards are developed entirely with a regional or national focus.[22]
Additional differences betweenstandards might relate to thecertification process and whether it is conducted by a first, second or third party; the traceability system in place and whether it allows for the segregation or mixing of certified and non-certified materials; and the types of sustainability claims that are made on products.[citation needed]
TheFairtrade label was developed in the late 1980s by a Dutch development agency in collaboration with Mexican farmers.[citation needed] The initiative performs development work and promotes its political vision of an alternative economy, seeing its main objective in empowering small producers and providing these with access to and improving their position on global markets.[citation needed]
Themost distinguishing feature of the Fairtrade label is the guarantee of a minimum price and a social premium that goes to the cooperative and not to the producers directly. Recently[citation needed], Fairtrade also adopted environmental objectives as part of theircertification system.
In 2020,Fairtrade International issued a position statement,[23] defending their use ofprivate standards, in response to a report from The Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity (MSI Integrity).
TheRainforest Alliance was created in the late 1980s from a social movement and is committed to conserving rainforests and their biodiversity. One key element of the standard is the compulsory elaboration and implementation of a detailed plan for the development of a sustainable farm management system to assist wildlife conservation.
Another objective is to improve workers' welfare by establishing and securingsustainable livelihoods. Producer prices may carry a premium. Yet instead of guaranteeing a fixedfloor price, the standard seeks to improve the economic situation of producers through higher yields and enhancedcost efficiency.[citation needed]
UTZ Certified (formerly Utz Kapeh) was co-founded by the Dutch coffee roaster Ahold Coffee Company in 1997. It aims to create an open and transparent marketplace for socially and environmentally responsible agricultural products.Instruments include the UTZ Traceability System and the UTZ Code of Conduct.[citation needed]
The traceability system makes certified products traceable from producer to final buyer and hasstringent chains of custody requirements. The UTZ Code of Conduct emphasizes both environmental practices (e.g. biodiversity conservation, waste handling, and water use) and social benefits (e.g. access to medical care, access to sanitary facilities at work).[citation needed]
TheOrganic standard was developed in the 1970s and is based onIFOAM Basic Standards.[24] IFOAM stands for International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements and is the leading global umbrella organization for the organic farming movement. The IFOAM Basic Standards provide a framework of minimum requirements, including the omission of agrochemicals such as pesticides and chemical-synthetic fertilizers. The use of animal feeds is also strictly regulated. Genetic engineering and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are forbidden.[citation needed]
With increasing awareness, Thetourism industry has a variety of sustainability standards for different subsectors. This includes standards forsustainable hotels, sustainable tour operators, sustainable events and conferences, sustainable destinations, and so on.[citation needed]
TheLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards were developed by the USGreen Building Council in an effort to propel green building design in the United States. LEED certification can be attained through "compliance with all environmental laws and regulations, occupancy scenarios, building permanence and pre-rating completion, site boundaries and area-to-site ratios, and obligatory five-year sharing of whole buildingenergy andwater use data from the start of occupancy (for new construction) or date ofcertification (for existing buildings)".[25]
Other types of standards include sector-specific schemes such as theRoundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO); standards for climate and development interventions like the Gold Standard, retailer-led sustainabilitycertification initiatives such asGlobalGAP;Corporate own-brand sustainability initiatives such asStarbucks' C.A.F.E. Practices; and national programs such as theIrish Food Board's 'Origin Green' scheme.[26]
TheUnited Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) is a joint initiative of FAO, UNEP, ITC, UNCTAD, and UNIDO on Sustainability Standards.[27] UNFSS is a neutral and credible platform to maximize the potential of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) as a means to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through:[28] Facilitating emerging economies' access to lucrative markets, stimulating well-informed dialogue among key stakeholders at the national and international level, and building capacities for producers and SMEs, to enhance opportunities in international trade.
