Sustainability standards and certification

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Sustainability standards and certifications are voluntary 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 such standards across the world.^[1]

The trend started in the late 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of Ecolabels and standards for organic food and other products. Most standards refer to the triple bottom line of environmental quality, social equity, and economic prosperity.^[2] A standard 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 for certified products to be sold along the supply 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 the standard.

The basic premise of sustainability standards is two-fold:

1. Weak legislation and strong demand for action: Sustainability standards emerged in areas where weak national and global legislation existed but where the consumer and NGO movements around the globe demanded action. For example, campaigns by Global Exchange^[3] and other NGOs against the purchase of goods from "sweatshop" factories by companies like Nike, Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., and other leading brands led to the emergence of social welfare standards like the SA8000 and others.
2. Environmental Merits - Leading brands who sold to both consumers and to the B2B supply chain, and wished to demonstrate the environmental or organic merits of their products led to the emergence of hundreds of eco-labels, organic and other standards.

A leading example of a consumer standard is the Fairtrade movement, administered by FLO International and exhibiting huge sales growth around the world for ethically sourced produce.^[4] An example of a B2B standard that has grown tremendously in the last few years is the Forest 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 demanding Fairtrade certification, for example, and consumers increasingly recognizing the FSC mark. 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]}. In commodities such as palm oil, soy, farmed seafood, and sugar, 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 to certification 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 the International Trade Center Standards Map) in 194 countries and 15 sectors,^[5] and about 457 ecolabels (according to Ecolabel Index) in 199 countries, and 25 industry sectors.^[6][7]