ISEAL Alliance

ISEAL Full Conference: 29-31 May - Member

Kat Elliott — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:17:08 +0000

Text goes here.

Price: €0.00

ISEAL Conference 2012 Opening Evening: 29 May - Member

Kat Elliott — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:16:15 +0000

Opening keynote, conference registration and networking reception- admission to evening event on 29 May 2012 only.

Price: €0.00

Conflict Minerals: A Shift towards Transparency

Jason LaChappelle — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

In anticipation of ISEAL’s upcoming conference in May, we look at how governments and the private sector are taking action to address conflict minerals. Fiona Solomon of the Responsible Jewellery Council takes time to answer a few of our questions.

Despite their use in luxury goods such as jewellery and electronics, the mining of minerals and metals such as gold, diamonds, platinum and coltan has been linked more with conflict than prosperity in some countries of origin. The famous concept of “resource curse” refers to how the exploitation of high-value resources has the potential to perpetuate armed violence and political instability.

Over the past decade, the impacts on human rights of buyer and retailer purchases have become better understood. In particular, gold and diamond supply chains have come under increasing scrutiny as so-called conflict minerals that are often illegally extracted and passed along trading routes controlled by human rights abusers, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. With rising consumer demand for jewellery in places like China and India, continued extraction of minerals from conflict-sensitive areas seems likely.

Requiring transparency

The risk of reputational damage and rising expectations from NGOs, international organisations and investors has started to induce a shift in mining and jewellery sectors. Ideas like due diligence and traceability are being discussed and applied in supply chains where, up until recently, there had been little awareness of actions at the supply level.

According to Fiona Solomon, these expectations have been articulated in emerging voluntary initiatives that specify principles, standards and transparency requirements for extractive industries. These include the Global Reporting Initiative and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. While many of these developments are in their early stages, Solomon suggests that they “appear to be generating increasing inquiries as to practices, accountability and assurance up and down supply chains.”

As a standard-setting organisation, the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) is one example of the many private sector initiatives that are bringing together jewellery suppliers, manufacturers and retailers to build industry capacity to mitigate risks and deliver responsible products.

An ISEAL associate member, RJC was founded in 2005 to advance ethical, social and environmental practices throughout the diamond, gold and platinum group metals jewellery supply chain through a system for certifying responsible business practices. Its Principles & Codes of Practice Standard addresses many issues relevant to mining in conflict-affected areas, including requirements for assessing human rights conditions and monitoring financial transactions.

RJC certification aligns with governments

A major factor generating increased demand for RJC certification has been the recent proliferation of government-led initiatives on gold conflict mining. The OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, adopted by member countries in May 2011, outlines requirements that companies operating in conflict-affected areas should implement. These consist of a system for identifying suppliers as well as regular audit and reporting requirements.

In the US, the Dodd-Frank Act is an important piece of legislation that focuses on conflict minerals, including gold, originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The regulation obliges companies to be transparent about their sourcing through traceability processes, segregation of minerals that are not conflict-free and, most importantly, public disclosure.

Solomon sees an important role for supply chain tools like the RJC standard in reinforcing government efforts: “[They] play a critical complementary role as they can provide tailored tools for the sector to help meet the requirements of government-led initiatives or regulations.”

In particular, uptake of the RJC’s recently launched Chain-of-Custody Standard, which currently applies to gold and platinum group metals (the consultation on diamonds is ongoing) has been swift because its content on issues such as traceability and due diligence is aligned with and complements government initiatives.

Essentially, a jewellery company that is successfully granted RJC chain-of-custody certification is well positioned to comply with the requirements of the OECD Guidance and the Dodd-Frank Act. Thus, certification can offer a practical approach for ensuring that public policy objectives can be implemented on the ground.

Private sector influence important

While the onset of government requirements has certainly sparked much needed collective action in the jewellery industry to restructure its practices, Solomon eyes the potential for the private sector to use its knowledge to influence public policy as well. For example, RJC is trying to support legitimate small-scale miners to continue receiving purchasing contracts if new government policies lead to an aversion to sourcing from conflict-sensitive areas altogether.

The interaction between sustainability standards and public policy will be a major topic during the Public Day of the ISEAL Conference on 30 May. We are fortunate to have Fiona Solomon as a speaker for the plenary session on “Government Use of Standards.” For full programme information and to register, click here.

Spotlight on Walmart: Talking Sustainability with the World's Biggest Retailer

Jason LaChappelle — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Selling tens of thousands of items from hundreds of brands and product types, Walmart’s supply chains span the globe. Its influence in the consumer goods market is unmatched and Walmart single-handedly has the ability to instigate wide-scale change in the way goods are produced. Jason LaChappelle talks with Rajan Kamalanathan, Walmart's Vice President of Ethical Sourcing, about the company's the companies sustainability initiatives and how they affect how Walmart does business.

Walmart is the third largest grossing company in the world with 2011 revenues of over US$400 billion. Selling tens of thousands of items from hundreds of brands and product types, Walmart’s supply chains span the globe. Its influence in the consumer goods market is unmatched and Walmart single-handedly has the ability to instigate wide-scale change in the way goods are produced.

In 2009, Walmart announced bold plans to develop a Sustainability Index for its products – a product identification tool for suppliers to improve their own sustainability efforts and for consumers to choose sustainable products. This month, Jason LaChappelle, ISEAL Communications Coordinator, talks with Rajan Kamalanathan, Walmart's Vice President of Ethical Sourcing, about these and other developments.

Q: Among your sustainable sourcing targets, you’ve set a goal for all seafood products sold in U.S. stores to be certified to Marine Stewardship Council or equivalent standards, as well goals for sustainable palm oil and beef. Why are sustainable sourcing targets important?

A: By bringing products like Fairtrade coffee and certified sustainable seafood within the reach of the customers who shop in our stores, we believe that we can play a powerful role in protecting our environment and our earth’s natural resources - and in shifting the behaviour of the marketplace.

Q: In 2009 Walmart set out to establish a “Sustainability Index” that would inform consumers about the environmental impact of the store’s products. What differentiates this from other retailer initiatives?

A: The Sustainability Index is a framework we are using to evaluate the sustainability of our suppliers and their products. It has three major components: 1) alignment with industry and stakeholders around the best scientific metrics and information on product and category sustainability through The Sustainability Consortium, 2) integrating that work into our core business, and 3) using that information to engage our customers. This work is the first of its kind in taking credible scientific and multi-stakeholder metrics to evaluate sustainability and build it into core business processes to inform decision making at scale.

Based on The Sustainability Consortium’s research and metrics on sustainability within 100 product categories, we are evaluating our suppliers and their products on how they are addressing the biggest issues and opportunities across the life cycle of their products. These results will be used in key business processes to integrate sustainability into our core business.

Q: What is the outlook for the Sustainability Index? Is a consumer label still the goal?

A: We are committed to engaging our customers around sustainability through the Sustainability Index. We will lead our industry in transparency for our customers, and we will provide them information in the ways that are most meaningful for them. This could be in the form of a label, but will more likely be in the form of transparent information through multiple communication channels that give them access to the information they need, when and where they need it. We’re developing our strategy for this now and will be piloting and rolling out tools in the coming years.

Q: Clothing is one of Walmart's major product lines. How have you been able to incorporate organic or more sustainable cotton into your supply chains?

A: At Walmart we support the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a non-profit organization that works with farmers to develop supply of cotton with less environmental and social impact than conventional cotton – “better cotton”. BCI partners with member brands/retailers to create demand for better cotton. BCI also has supports a related program called the Better Cotton Fast Track (BCFT) program, dedicated to accelerating the development of better cotton globally.

ASDA/George has been a BCI member for two years. We expanded our BCI membership to include Walmart U.S. in January of 2012 and joined the Fast Track program.

Q: Walmart has initiated some interesting programmes over the years to support the livelihoods and environments of small farmers in developing countries. Can you tell us a bit about them?

Through Walmart’s Tierra Fértil (translation: Fertile Soil) programme, we have supported over 2,200 farmers in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in diversifying their crops to meet real market needs. A specialised group of agronomical engineers advises local farmers on seed and crop quality, soil use, yields, maturity, safety, responsible use of agrochemicals, crop rotation and more.

The Direct Farm programme allows us to bring locally sourced and fresher produce to our stores in the communities close to where it is grown. To support farmers and their communities, we have pledged to buy $1 billion in produce sourced from 1 million small and medium-sized farmers in emerging markets, and train a million farmers and farm workers, of which we expect half to be women.

Walmart Central America already has a best-in-class program that is buying directly from small and medium-sized farmers, eliminating middle men, raising farmer income and emphasizing sustainability. We are replicating the success of this program in the communities we serve around the world, while remaining mindful that each region has its own unique opportunities, need and challenges.

Q: The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, of which Walmart is a member, reached a milestone recently, registering as an independent non-profit. What do you hope this multi-stakeholder initiative will achieve?

A: In 2010, Walmart announced an acceleration of our global commitment to sustainable agriculture, which included sourcing beef that does not contribute to the deforestation of the Amazon worldwide by the end of 2015. We are proud to be a founding member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and believe this is a key forum to bring all stakeholders together to tackle issues important in the beef supply chain.

Q: Walmart’s Supplier Sustainability Assessment requires suppliers to report on their social and environmental practices and take steps to improve sustainability. How does Walmart drive these changes at the supplier level?

A: We released the Supplier Sustainability Assessment as a tool to engage all of our suppliers around sustainability. We had a significant response rate, and we heard a lot of great stories about suppliers who began measuring their impacts and setting sustainability goals for the first time because of that work. As we get more and more granular metrics and information out of The Sustainability Consortium, we are starting to build sustainability more explicitly into our core merchandising processes, and supporting those tools with incentives for buyers and suppliers.

Q: Walmart’s supply chains criss-cross the globe, with multiple processing stages and transactions between production and consumption. How much power does a retailer such as you have to transform supply chains with so many steps between production and consumption?

We know that by working together with our suppliers, NGOs and government partners we can help people at every level of our business receive the respect, dignity and opportunity they deserve by creating a truly innovative, ethical and sustainable supply chain that protects both our planet and the communities we touch throughout the world.

For example, Walmart has partnered with CARE in Bangladesh and Swasti in India to design and implement the Women in Factories program, which will provide economic and social opportunities for female factory workers.
We also partner with other retailers/brands to improve standards for workers in the supply chain across the industry. Some examples include the Global Social Compliance Programme (GSCP), ILO/IFC Better Work and Business for Social Responsibility.

Q: Some major companies have come under fire recently for the working conditions of their factories in developing countries. What is Walmart’s system for auditing the facilities of suppliers?

A: We require all factories in our supply chain to provide safe working conditions and, where applicable, safe and sanitary residential facilities. Our suppliers’ factories must comply with Walmart’s rigorous ethical standards in order to supply merchandise to Walmart. Third-party audits are conducted by approved audit firms and auditors. After a facility has an initial audit, all subsequent audits are unannounced. Walmart maintains a strict list of approved auditors, who must undergo training every three months. In addition, our auditors have to be trained by the industry’s foremost authority, the Global Social Compliance Programme.

Walmart also provides suppliers, factories and factory workers with appropriate mechanisms to report labour concerns to us in a confidential manner and in relevant local languages. Concerns can be reported by calling a local helpline number, which we require our suppliers to post on all factory floors, or by sending an e-mail to the Walmart ethics office.

Challenges vary by regions of the world. If violations are found our first priority is always to work with our suppliers to make sure their factories achieve compliance. We are confident that this collaborative approach is the best way to help our supplier’s understand the business benefits of operating factories that meet labour, environmental and health and safety standards. If a supplier does not take corrective action, the factory will not be permitted to supply merchandise for sale by Walmart.

Q: One of the reasons for Walmart’s success is the wide range of relatively inexpensive products that the average consumer can afford. But investing in sustainability entails some costs. Are greener products possible at continued low prices?

A: At Walmart our customers care about sustainability, but they don’t want to have to pay more for “more sustainable or green” and we believe they shouldn’t have to.

We’ve learned that a product that is better for the environment or lasts longer doesn’t have to be more expensive by using our size and scale – and partnerships with suppliers – to drive down prices. We can do a lot of good by helping to make the products people are already buying more sustainable so they don’t have to make changes to what they buy to make a difference.

Q: Many companies have made a business case for integrating social and environmental stewardship into the fabric of corporate strategies. Have Walmart’s core objectives or business models changed in response to sustainability imperatives?

A: At Walmart, we know that being an efficient and profitable business and being a good steward of the environment are goals that can work together. Sustainability is about reducing waste in the supply chain and in our operations. As Walmart becomes more efficient and environmentally friendly, we’re also seeing that those same efforts are reducing our costs and allowing us to pass those savings on to our customers.

Through the work that our operations team has done to improve the efficiency of our fleet and reduce the waste that comes out of a Walmart store, they've returned, just in the last year alone, nearly $1 billion – $800 million – back to the business for something that is also good for communities in which we live and the planet we all share.

Download Walmart's 2012 Global Responsibility Report here.

Milestones in the Sustainability Standards Movement

ISEAL Alliance — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

ISEAL is celebrating its tenth anniversary of making good standards better at this year's conference in Bonn from 29-30 May. To mark this occasion, we're drawing up a timeline of the important moments in ISEAL's past as well as the significant milestones of last ten years of the sustainability standards movement. We want your input on what to include in this timeline.

The theme of this year's annual conference in Bonn from 29-30 May is to explore how businesses, governments, NGOs and sustainability standards can develop innovative partnerships that lead to positive global social and environmental impacts.

But while we look ahead to the challenges of scaling up, we are taking the opportunity to reflect as well.

This year's annual conference will mark ISEAL's tenth anniversary of making good standards better. During our special opening evening event on the 29th of May, speeches from influential people in the standards landscape will not only look to the future of the standards movement, but they will also look at what ISEAL has accomplished in its first decade.

As part of this occasion, we are drawing up a timeline of the most important moments at ISEAL in the past ten years.

But we want your help in filling out this timeline. We would like to hear your perspective on the milestones of ISEAL's past, as well as important moments in the sustainability standards and certification movement in the last ten years.

Please send your suggestions for moments/milestones that should appear on our 10-year timeline to Jason LaChappelle, ISEAL Communications Coordinator, at jason [at] isealalliance [dot] org

"If we had but world enough, and time…" presentation from the ISEAL 2011 Conference

Credibility Principles: Global Consultation

Amy Jackson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Building from its Draft Credibility Principles, ISEAL is leading a global consultation to generate consensus on a set of Credibility Principles that represent the core values upon which effective standards are built.

Sustainability standards are increasing in use and scope, and a wide variety of claims are being made about the environmental and social attributes of products. Stakeholders need to understand what makes standards systems credible, whether they are effective and how to evaluate and support them. It is also essential to develop a tool that provides a common way of organising the language used to claim sustainability in the marketplace.

What are we trying to achieve?

A globally agreed set of Credibility Principles that will be an international reference

ISEAL aims to achieve consensus on Credibility Principles that will become the global reference for discussions centred on credibility in sustainability standards. This will also include a complementary tool that describes and categorises sustainability claims in the market.

A tool that improves effectiveness

The Credibility Principles will inform good practice and improve the effectiveness of standard systems in achieving positive social and environmental impacts. If stakeholders agree on what credibility looks like, this will push sustainability standards to adopt good practice. ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice will emphasise the Credibility Principles and provide more guidance for standards to implement them.

Anticipated Impact

By clearly defining the fundamental principles in credible standards and categorising the language used to make sustainability claims, we will:

Ensure products are sourced from producers and enterprises achieving sustainability
Distinguish good practice from good marketing
Avoid greenwashing

How will this build on existing work?

ISEAL is leading this conversation because of its experience in facilitating a deeper understanding of how to improve sustainability standards. The Credibility Principles will capture our collective knowledge of the concepts and actions that are critical to the effectiveness of sustainability standards, build on ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice and guide ISEAL in considering what additional tools or Codes are needed.

How can I participate?

ISEAL is committed to an open and inclusive process. There are several ways you can get involved:

Join the Steering Committee

You can express interest in joining this 10-12 person group that will be responsible for the oversight of development of the Credibility Principles. Please send expressions of interest by 25 April 2012.

The Steering Committee will build awareness and monitor the progress of the consultation, strengthen links with relevant stakeholders and ultimately approve the final content. ISEAL is seeking a diverse group made up of experienced individuals that are deeply engaged with the sustainability standards movement. We are seeking representation from businesses, consumers, information platforms, governments, NGOs, producers and sustainability standards systems. The final Credibility Principles will be completed in mid 2013.

An initial meeting of the Steering Committee will be held at the end of June 2012. Download the overview document of the Credibility Principles consultation process for more information about the selection criteria and for a rough Steering Committee meeting schedule.

Participate in the Global Consultation

You can attend consultation workshops held by ISEAL in September through November 2012 in Brazil, India, China, and select locations in Europe and North America.

You can provide online input during two 60-day public consultations, during which ISEAL will actively reach out to stakeholders for input. Informal contributions are also welcome at any time.

You can provide direct comments in writing or through interview.

Comments and Contact

For more information about the global consultation or to express interest in the Steering Committee, please contact ISEAL’s Senior Credibility Manager, Amy Jackson, at amy [at] isealalliance [dot] org

Resources

Download an overview of the Credibility Principles consultation process
Download a short factsheet about ISEAL's Draft Credibility Principles
Download the (*) Draft Credibility Principles

(*) subject to change prior to consultation

The Credibility Principles consultation is funded through a partnership between ISEAL and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Defining credibility

ISEAL Alliance — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:49:42 +0000

ISEAL helps people understand what good practice looks like for different aspects of a standard, including standard-setting and impact evaluation.

At ISEAL we aim to increase the impacts of sustainability standards by improving their effectiveness and creating the conditions for their increased uptake. We help people understand what good practice looks like for standard-setting, assurance (certification and accreditation) and impact assessment. We also support standards systems to comply with these good practices. We respond to technical enquiries, develop technical resources and deliver training to our members. Using our technical expertise, we also create special tools and initiatives such as an academy to build knowledge for users of standards systems or an online tool that offers a comparison of standards according to a user’s preferences.

The ISEAL Codes of Good Practice are our most broadly recognised tools, providing guidance on how standards systems can effectively and credibly deliver on their social and environmental impacts. ISEAL’s new draft Credibility Principles will undergo the same rigorous consultation process as do our Codes to articulate the values that underlie all ISEAL Codes and credible standards more generally. A new guidance tool that will provide support for credible claims and labelling for sustainability standards is currently in discussion.

Section blocks:

Our Codes of Good Practice

Making accurate claims

Our credibility principles

Trends watch

Kat Elliott — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:47:01 +0000

Trends watch

Spotlight on IKEA: Commitments and Challenges of Responsible Procurement...

Michelle Doust — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:09:48 +0000

2011 was deemed the International Year of Forests by the United Nations, and it was also a big year for IKEA, whose sales continued to grow despite an overall slump in the home furnishings sector globally.

Wood is the most important raw material for the retailer (wood products constitute more than half of IKEA’s sales), and IKEA has made commitments over the years towards increasing the percentage of responsibly harvested wood in their supply chain, with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood accounting for approximately 25% of their supply, and plans to see that rise to 35% in 2012. IKEA also is focusing on increasing the sustainability of their cotton supply (used in IKEA’s upholstery fabrics and bed linens), and to this end IKEA became a founding member of the Better Cotton Initiative (an ISEAL affiliate). IKEA also introduced UTZ certified coffee into their cafeterias, offices and restaurants in 2008.

Yet it is still a challenging time for IKEA. Deforestation rates are still alarmingly high across the globe, although the rate has slowed in recent years and illegal logging continues in many tropical forests. We asked Anders Hildeman, Global Forestry Manager at IKEA, to tell us more about IKEA’s recent challenges and commitments to responsible procurement.

IKEA has always focused on responsible forestry, and has embraced a stepwise or “staircase” approach to sustainable sources of timber, whereby a forest supplier must meet minimal requirements and IKEA will place increasingly higher demands for sustainability on those suppliers over time. Yet, illegal logging is still rampant across the globe and in many of IKEA’s main supply origins, such as China and Russia. What is IKEA doing to ensure legal and sustainable supplies of wood in its supply chain?

Well, first of all, our approach to wood sourcing is really a two step approach. The first one is to ensure that it fulfils some basic requirements and among those are issues around legality and ensuring that the harvesting isn’t damaging high conservation values. The second step is to ensure that we continuously source more of what we refer to as “preferred wood” for our range of products and it’s FSC certified wood that qualifies towards that objective. We are also looking at sourcing more recycled wood to ensure that we meet these minimum requirements everywhere. We first use forest certification and a chain of custody certification and then we have 16 foresters who work to control the wood source for IKEA products at our suppliers and carry out audits of the supply chain.

There is a new EU regulation, coming into effect in early 2013, focused on Due Diligence Systems that will avoid illegally harvested wood. How will this affect IKEA and its commitment to FSC? Will your FSC commitment help IKEA to meet the new regulation?

The EU regulation doesn’t explicitly mention FSC as “putting you in the clear”, as such, from the point of view of the legislation but it’s definitely going to be an important tool to meet the due diligence requirements of the EU timber regulations. We also have other certification systems like the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) which can also provide reassurance towards legal requirements.

Overall, we welcome the EU timber regulation and we welcome the Lacey Act because it creates an even playing field. We are putting a lot of effort into ensuring legality of our products, of the wood that is harvested for our products, so we are happy to see that everybody else has to comply with these requirements. And since we’ve been operating these systems for more than a decade to ensure legality, we see this as a competitive advantage for us.

Some might say that origins such as Russia and China, where IKEA sources a great deal of its timber, are still struggling to reach maturity in terms of responsible forest management. Why doesn’t IKEA source its wood from elsewhere in Europe, or other origins? How can standards systems like FSC improve forest management in countries like China and Russia?

Well, the reason why IKEA sources globally is, of course, to ensure the best possible price and the best possible quality of its products but having said that we also put the resources in place to make sure that the wood that we’re using meets our requirements. And I think if we look from a sustainability point of view, companies are prepared to put these resources in place to ensure their sustainability requirements contribute very strongly to the development in countries like Russia or China or in South East Asia. IKEA has been supporting responsible forestry in both China and Russia and elsewhere over the years. For instance, since 2002 we’ve been working with WWF to promote responsible forestry and in that period, the area of certified forest in Russia has grown from approximately 3 million to 30 million hectares. And in China, out of the 2 million hectares that are certified, IKEA has contributed with technical assistance to approximately 85% of that area.

Some have complained that IKEA is not doing as much as it can to source FSC certified wood, and that certification targets have been slower than originally promised years ago, or not as high as the percentages seen in some of your competitors’ stores. What are the challenges to meeting those certification targets?

One of the big challenges is the availability of certified wood in many regions. If you are sourcing in China roughly just 2% of the forest area is certified and on a global level FSC certified forests makes up only about 5% of the commercially oriented forest management area. So, in many areas you have very low availability and that, is of course, one of the biggest challenges we face. However, I think one has to remember that even if the percentage might not seem that high, IKEA sources more than 2 million cubic meters of FSC certified wood and we are also implementing our minimum requirements and working with our foresters on the ground to ensure that we meet our sustainability targets.

What are the environmental and social sustainability challenges of IKEA’s other main raw materials, such as cotton?

Besides wood, cotton is one of the most important raw materials for IKEA and we want the cotton we use to be produced with respect for people and the environment.

Although cotton is a renewable resource, it’s also a material associated with major sustainability concerns such as many farms using large amounts of water, artificial fertilisers and pesticides. We work to create lasting and large-scale improvements in conventional cotton cultivation by encouraging farmers to introduce more sustainable farming practices.

In 2005 we also started working with WWF on cotton farming projects that help farmers in India and Pakistan to grow cotton in a more sustainable way. The results have been significant. On average, participating farmers have halved their water consumption and use of chemical pesticides while the use of artificial fertilisers has been cut by 30 percent. At the same time, earnings have increased by 40 percent on average.

Today, we support projects run by a number of organisations to reach a larger number of farmers. Farmers get hands-on training and support to introduce more sustainable farming practises. In some areas, “master trainers” act as teachers and role models in the local community and this encourages other farmers to get involved.

How are standards systems like the Better Cotton Initiative being used to address sustainability issues in cotton and what are the opportunities for cotton standards in your sector?

Well, IKEA is one of the founding members of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which aims to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment and better for the sector’s future.

We have also set a target that by the end of the 2015 financial year, all the cotton used for IKEA products shall comply with BCI’s social and environmental criteria. Farmers wanting to produce Better Cotton must incorporate not only the environmental criteria originally developed by IKEA and WWF, but also the working conditions criteria defined by the BCI. For instance, child labour and bonded labour is unacceptable but not uncommon in rural Pakistan and India, and this represents a major challenge to fulfilling BCI criteria on decent work. IKEA and the IKEA Foundation are working together to find ways to bring about lasting change in India and Pakistan. The IKEA Foundation is supporting projects run by UNICEF and Save the Children in cotton farming areas in India and Pakistan to improve children’s rights.

IKEA is focusing on its climate footprint, primarily in terms of energy efficiency and transport. As deforestation is a major driver of climate change, will your climate work become integrated with your forestry procurement and bring about more of a “carbon forestry” focus, such as on work related to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)?

This is currently not integrated in the IKEA approach and we will need to have more clarity on the international policies, REDD not the least, before doing so. We do however have a requirement that wood should not come from deforestation in the tropics and the ambition to increase the sourcing of certified wood to a large extent directs IKEA sourcing away from areas affected by deforestation and degradation.

IKEA is also known for its in-store restaurants and Swedish food treats for shoppers. IKEA has been featuring UTZ certified coffee since 2008. Is IKEA considering using additional sustainability standards for its food procurement needs, beyond coffee? Might we ever see certified Swedish meatballs of some kind?

We are focusing on increasing the range of more sustainable food products to specific raw material areas with particular social and/or environmental challenges, mainly coffee, cacao, tea, salmon, dairy and meat products.

Since 2008, all coffee sold and served at IKEA has been UTZ Certified. We also introduced UTZ Certified cocoa, earlier this year, with a fully traceable chocolate bar produced by an Ivory Coast cooperative.

IKEA is also part of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s (ASC) Salmon Dialogue which is developing principles and criteria for responsible salmon farming. All IKEA salmon products shall be sourced according to the ASC standard by 2015. All other fish must fulfil the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) criteria or be on WWF’s “green list” of species from relatively healthy and well-managed populations that can sustain current fishing pressure.

In addition, at least one dish served in IKEA restaurants must be made exclusively with organic ingredients.

We’re also cooperating with WWF in a project aimed at finding ways of adapting the IKEA range of foods to be more sustainable. The initial goal is to identify potential short-term greenhouse gas reductions. The next step is to initiate and implement actions to reduce the climate impact from all food-related operations and outline a strategy for long-term adaptation of the IKEA food business.

You partner with WWF and Rainforest Alliance to foster responsible forestry in IKEA supply origins such as Russia, China and Vietnam. But how influential is the national or local NGO sector in those major origins, and what are they doing to tackle the sustainability challenges of forest management?

Well, we’ve been working a lot with WWF in all these countries and we think they are doing a very good job on the ground to improve the standards of forest management. As I said before, in Russia the area that has been certified has grown from a very low level in the beginning to over 30 million hectares today. In China, although the growth has been slower, awareness about the necessity to manage resources in a better way has increased greatly. The same is true in Vietnam where there is also a growing awareness of the link between the way forests are managed and the possibilities to compete on an international market.

Lastly, you are a forest owner and own some 270 hectares of forestland in Swedish Lapland. What have you learned about forestry from working your own land?

Well it’s actually not me owning the land but it’s my wife and my kids who own the land! I’m a forester by training so forestry is something I have studied and worked with for my whole professional life. But what you learn from managing your own forest is to really take care of the land and you get a sense a pride from seeing the forest develop; having areas that are interesting from a conservation point of view; taking care of the wildlife and the trees and also the heritage from earlier generations.

IMAGE: FSC Certified Forest. Copyright FSC A.C.

A Fair Climate Deal for Fairtrade Farmers

ISEAL Alliance — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:30:21 +0000

Against the backdrop of increasingly unpredictable climatic conditions across the world, Fairtrade farmers are faced with challenges that threaten their livelihoods. The frequency and magnitude of hurricanes and typhoons, the quickening of desertification, the increased frequency of floods and droughts, and the loss of biodiversity all can be linked to a changing climate.

Though scepticism still exists, there is general consensus in the scientific community that we are experiencing a significant shift in the earth’s climate. This shift has particular significance for people living in the developing world who depend primarily on both subsistence and commercial agriculture for their livelihoods. Fairtrade farmers are clearly feeling the effects of climate change.

Yvette Konstadopoulos is a wine farmer in Western Cape South Africa, in an area that receives less than 20mm of rain each year, and is heavily reliant on the Orange River to ensure her table grapes crop. She says:

“Two floods came down the river at different times and that put 15 rows of grapes underwater. We were very lucky really, as the floods came two weeks after we had harvested the last of our table grapes. If that had occurred in the middle of the harvest we would have lost a lot of produce, and this would have had a very harsh financial impact on us. The destruction of a full crop can put you out of business, and that would put a lot of people out of work in the community.”

An unpredictable climate poses significant challenges to farmers everywhere but this is particularly problematic in developing countries where a decline in agricultural output can plunge a whole region into economic crisis. This is apparent in Southern Africa where record droughts have had a catastrophic impact on agriculture, resulting in the displacement of populations as farmers seek alternative sources of income.

Unfortunately there has been very little governmental recognition of the impact that climate change is having on farmers’ livelihoods and initiatives coming from the Conference of Parties (COP) haven’t really provided much in the way of concrete commitments from governments. Hence, much work still needs to be done to put in place policies that adequately address the impact of climate change and help to cushion the economic blow to farmers.

Fairtrade Africa is engaging in climate change policy processes in an effort to bridge the gap between the challenging effects felt by Fairtrade farmers on the ground and government policy on climate change. To find out more please visit www.fairtradeafrica.net