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Intergovernmental Forum of Dialogue on Voluntary Sustainability Standards

The UN Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS). Intergovernmental Forum of Dialogue on Voluntary Sustainability Standards. ICCO Workshop, Douala, Cameroon June 24-27, 2013 Christopher Wunderlich: UNFSS coordinator. 2. 2. 2. 2. United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS).

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Intergovernmental Forum of Dialogue on Voluntary Sustainability Standards

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  1. The UN Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) Intergovernmental Forum of Dialogue on Voluntary Sustainability Standards ICCO Workshop, Douala, Cameroon June 24-27, 2013 Christopher Wunderlich: UNFSS coordinator

  2. 2 2 2 2 United Nations Forumon Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) Objective: Effective forum for policy-makers to better understand voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and be able to utilize VSSs as potential tools to support their own sustainable development strategies and goals. 2

  3. 3 3 What are Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS)? • Mainly developed by private bodies (commercial and non-commercial). • Typically cover health, safety, environmental, economic, social and animal welfare issues. • “Credence characteristics”, i.e. attributes not verifiable through examination of the product (Production and Processing Methods- PPMs). • Most prominentin the food and agricultural sector (also significant in textiles/clothing, toys, timber products, cosmetics, bio-fuels, electronic goods). • Carbon & water foot-printing and energy and material/resource efficiencystandards are emerging as a new frontier.

  4. 4 4 4 4 Importance of VSS 4 • VSS are of key importance for market entry and sustainable development. • Real developmental opportunities – strong market dynamics (including growing private sector interest and participation) • Unless pro-actively addressed, VSS can potentially become a market entry hurdle and a seriouschallenge in particular for small-scale producers.

  5. 5 5 5 5 Importance of VSS (cont’d) 5 • Voluntary(i.e. private) Sustainability Standards (VSS) are often viewed as a technicality, when VSS are tools that can be used to: • Internalize environmental and social costs. • Advance sustainable production and consumption methods (including opportunities for energy/ material/ resource efficiency and cost savings). • Promote competitiveness in the growing and lucrative “sustainability” markets.

  6. 6 6 6 6 6 Market Share of VSS-certified Bananas & Coffee Source: Food and Agriculture: The Future of Sustainability, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, D. Giovannucci, S. Scheer et al., NYC, 2012: 17.

  7. 7 7 7 7 7 State of Sustainability Initiatives (SSI): • Reporting service on VSS: • Market trends • Program reach/structure • Program governance • Sectors: • Forestry, Coffee, Cocoa, • Tea and Banana

  8. 8 8 8 8 Growth of VSS 8 • Recent Average Annual Growth Rate of Key VSS Markets: Source: State of Sustainability Initiatives, 2011

  9. Geographical distribution of sustainable cocoa certification, 2011 (mt)

  10. Geographical distribution of sustainable coffee certification, 2011 (mt)

  11. Sustainable cocoa and coffee (% of Global Production in mt- 2011) Cocoa Coffee 4Cs: 11% (906,300mt) Utz: 6% (476,903mt) Fairtrade: 5% (393,000mt) Organic: 3% (286,120mt) Rainforest Alliance: 2% (191,384mt) Adj for multiple-certification: 20% of Global Production Utz: 5% (212,690mt) Fairtrade: 3% (121,400mt) Rainforest Alliance: 2% (98,416mt) Organic: 1.4% 61,842mt) Adj for multiple-certification: 8% of Global Production

  12. Sustainable cocoa production vs. sales, global Cocoa • Annual growth rate in production: 55% from 2008-2011 • Total volume certified in 2011: 349,504mt (8% of global production) Total volume sold as certified in 2011: 143,514 (3% of global production)

  13. Sustainable cocoa production by country and initiative (2011) Fairtrade Global Average Organic Rainforest Alliance Utz

  14. Reported 2011 premiums (KPMG) • UTZ: US$152/mt in Ghana $140/mt in Côte D’Ivoire • Rainforest Alliance: US$150/mt Ghana $200/mt Côte D’Ivoire • Fairtrade: US$200/mt in Ghana and Côte D’Ivoire Source: KPMG. (2012). Study on the Costs, Advantages and Disadvantages of Cocoa Certification.

  15. Reported 2011 audit costs (KPMG) • UTZ: $6,500/coop,Ghana $4,331/coop,Côte D’Ivoire (annual) • Rainforest Alliance: $8,500/coop,Ghana, $7,500/coop, Côte D’Ivoire (annual) • Fairtrade: $2,561/coop, Ghana, $2,562/coop, Côte D’Ivoire (annual) KPMG: 2012

  16. CommitteeOn SustainabilityAssessment Impact Assessment Tools to measure the costs and benefits of implementing sustainable certification programs

  17. Economic Social Environment Farmer Livelihoods Risk & Resilience Competitiveness Management Organizational Health & Safety Working Conditions Education & Training Basic Rights & Equity Inclusive Value Chains Resource Use Waste Soil Conservation Biodiversity Climate Change

  18. Colombia Expanding each year

  19. Conventional Control Yields in Colombiacps/ha 7 certified agri-standards show consistently higher yields and = increased farmer revenue by $331 million! 20 Sample: 2,474 producers (75% sm/25% lg) *** 99% confidence except 2 & 6

  20. Sample: 9 countries, over 4,000 farms, 2 crops (coffee/cocoa) with control groups (2008-2009)

  21. Multiple Certifications and Relation to Net Income Source: CRECE-COSA

  22. 6 Certifications: before and after Year 1 Year 4 Source: CRECE-COSA: significant improvements in a basket of environmental indicators and improvements over controls groups

  23. CERT - CONVCERT - CONVCERT - CONVCERT - CONV % Women’s Time Spent on Crop: Certified vs Conventional 1053 producer samples Tanzania

  24. 25 25 25 25 Benefits and Costs of VSS 25 • Benefits of VSS use may arise at different levels: • Enterprise level • Sector level • National level • International level • Costs and benefits might arise at different points and levels (i.e. those bearing costs might not necessarily earn many of the benefits). Thus, governmental task to even out interests.

  25. Source: Draft Decision-making guide: Trade Standards Practitioners Network (TSPN), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

  26. 28 28 28 28 28 28 Pro-active Role of Developing Country Governments Surveillance, Supportive and Facilitating Role Governance/ Standard-setting Devising flanking/support policies Assuring policy coherence Facilitating stakeholder dialogue Facilitating Investment

  27. 29 29 29 29 29 29 Pro-active Role of Developing Country Governments Surveillance, Supportive and Facilitating Role Governance/ Standard-setting Devising flanking/support policies Assuring policy coherence Facilitating stakeholder dialogue Facilitating Investment • Transparency, Inclusiveness, legitimacy, trade restrictiveness • Anti-trust • Assuring coherence between mandatory & VSS • Facilitating interoperability between VSS

  28. 30 30 30 30 30 30 Pro-active Role of Developing Country Governments Surveillance, Supportive and Facilitating Role Governance/ Standard-setting Devising flanking/support policies Assuring policy coherence Facilitating stakeholder dialogue Facilitating Investment • In physical infrastructure • In SMTQ (standards, metrology, testing, quality) systems & institutions • Directing donor funding accordingly

  29. 31 31 31 31 31 31 Pro-active Role of Developing Country Governments Surveillance, Supportive and Facilitating Role Governance/ Standard-setting Devising flanking /support policies Assuring policy coherence Facilitating stakeholder dialogue Facilitating Investment • Awareness raising/ training • Financial support • Information instruments/ independent evaluation of VSS • SME support

  30. 32 32 32 32 32 32 Pro-active Role of Developing Country Governments Surveillance, Supportive and Facilitating Role Governance/ Standard-setting Devising flanking /support policies Assuring policy coherence Facilitating stakeholder dialogue Facilitating Investment • Among government agencies dealing with VSS • Between public & private requirements (e.g. perverse incentives) • Towards donors

  31. 33 33 33 33 33 33 Pro-active Role of Developing Country Governments Surveillance, Supportive and Facilitating Role Governance/ Standard-setting Devising flanking /support policies Assuring policy coherence Facilitating stakeholder dialogue Facilitating Investment • Facilitating and engaging in stakeholder dialogue on development & implementation of VSS

  32. 34 34 34 34 Public-Private Cooperation: Find nexus based on “mandates” Identify roles 34

  33. 35 35 Rational for Creating UNFSS • VSS as meansto Sustainable Development, not as endsin themselves. • Contextualize VSS into the macro-economic development perspective(i.e. not only market access and market shares agenda). • UNFSS should focus on public interest & public goods related to VSS. • VSS need to be recognizedas strategic policy issue(mitigating economic, food, climate and water crises). • Understood within overall life cycle of products and related services (looking at avoidance, minimization and management of ‘real’ risks). • Also of increasing importance for South-South trade.. • VSS represent anew meta-governance system for international supply chains, largely outside WTO rules.

  34. 36 36 Rational for Creating UNFSS (cont’d) What is important to address is that VSS are scrutinized as: • proportionate to the (real) risk they claim to address; • scientifically-based; • that the burden of compliance is distributed fairly; and • VSS should not undermine or weaken rules of the WTO’s TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) and SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) agreements.

  35. 37 37 37 37 United Nations Forumon Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) Objective: Effective forum for policy-makers to better understand voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and be able to utilize VSSs as potential tools to support their own sustainable development strategies and goals. 37

  36. 38 38 UNFSS Added Value • An unbiased and credible policy dialogue that guides and benefits from analytical, empirical and capacity-building activities. • Structured to promote “ownership” by developing countries and assure the “demand-driven nature”of UNFSS activities. • The only inter-governmental (and multi-stakeholder) forum that deals with generic and strategic issues of VSS in a consistent and pro-active way. • Capitalizes on the strengths and specialization of each of the five UN organizations that partner on UNFSS. • Bettercoordination of activities among UN partner organizations.

  37. 39 39 39 UNFSS Structure: Members ofthe UNFSS 39

  38. 40 40 40 40 Cluster of Activities of UNFSS Informed policy dialogue on developmental and market- access impact of VSS Analytical & empirical work (including flagship analytical report) Upon specific request from developing countries, assist with specific analysis of VSS and in implementing UNFSS recommendations

  39. 41 Activities of UNFSS (set-up) • High-level advisory board (multi-stakeholder) • Briefing sessions to consult and partner with stakeholders in building UNFSS: • Several in Geneva, WTO, UNCTAD XIII • China, Thailand, Panama • Cameroon (with Inter. Cocoa Org.; June 24-27) • Kenya (TBC) • Official launch of UNFSS- March 21-22nd, 2013 Geneva at Palais des Nations • Through consultation Advisory Panel prepared draft work plan which was discussed, adjusted and confirmed at UNFSS launch event: 41

  40. 42 Preliminary Activities of UNFSS (from launch) 42

  41. 43 43 43 43 For more information: Website: www.unfss.org email: info@unfss.org Support for the UNFSS provided by: 43

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