New Project Investigates the State of Sustainability Initiatives

We are pleased to announce the development of a new global initiative dedicated to improving our understanding of voluntary standards and sustainability initiatives operative in commodity markets worldwide. Initiated by Aidenvironment, IIED, IISD and UNCTAD, the State of Sustainability Initiatives, or SSI, is a reporting service that aims to significantly improve access to information on the impacts, effectiveness and scope of voluntary initiatives for sustainable commodities.

With ground breaking research and analysis, the SSI's flagship product "The State of Sustainability Initiatives Annual Review" will provide a regular snapshot and comparison of the performance of major voluntary initiatives operating across different commodity sectors. The first edition will analyze the progress of voluntary initiatives in addressing sustainable development, and will detail the market impacts of multiple commodity sectors.

SSI reports are designed to cater specifically to a business and policy decision-making audience. Reports will also assist other stakeholders to make more informed choices with respect to standards and other market-based approaches to sustainable commodity production and trade. The SSI Annual Review will challenge initiatives to strive toward better practices and will help supply chain participants make investments in those initiatives that best suit their sustainable development goals.

The following is a brief update on the latest SSI project developments.

SSI Donor Support and Key Partnerships
The SSI recently secured critical funding support from the Norwegian government. Together with matching funds from the SSI's managing partner organizations - Aidenvironment, IIED, IISD and UNCTAD - the project has secured financing to produce the first Annual Review, which will be published in spring 2010.

The SSI has also negotiated a key partnership with the UN International Trade Centre (ITC) through which the SSI and the ITC, under its "Trade for Sustainable Development", project have agreed to develop and post a common set of sustainability indicators on a shared, globally accessible database.

The ITC has a long history of providing market information for global trade and is widely recognized for the quality and consistency of its data. The collaboration between the SSI and the ITC is a major step towards the establishment of a global reference point for monitoring and assessing the sustainability of supply chain initiatives, allowing readers to better understand the facts and formulate their own conclusions.

The draft version of the database, a beta version of which has already been completed, contains more than 700 different fields of information on the costs, benefits and social, economic and environmental effects brought by voluntary sustainability standards.

Annual Review Research Begins
Earlier this month the SSI research team began compiling data along a set of indicators in the coffee, cocoa and forestry sectors in preparation for a prototype of the Annual Review which will be released in December. The prototype will study Rainforest Alliance, Utz Certified, 4C Association, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC). Research and analysis will gather data focused on markets and impacts.

The first SSI Annual Review will provide a user-friendly conceptual and practical foundation for understanding and analyzing the growing array of sustainability standards and related commodity initiatives. The full report will be published in spring 2010, and will study a wider range of voluntary initiatives and commodity sectors.

If you are a researcher with an interest in participating in the SSI process, please contact us for more information.

Advisory Panel Ensures Relevant Content
The SSI's multi-stakeholder advisory panel was brought together to oversee the project's design and implementation. With the first official meeting held in Virginia last March, the SSI has secured the participation of more than 20 senior level experts from the private sector, multilateral organizations, financial institutions, sustainability oriented NGO's and other metrics initiatives. The expertise and advice of the panel helps ensure the relevance and efficiency of the SSI's activities. See the full list of advisory panel members.

Marked by an unprecedented degree of coordination and cooperation, the panel has provided critical input to the SSI research team throughout the summer months to develop a list of indicators that are being used as a research template for the first SSI Annual Review. Research across the indicators will analyse the progress of voluntary initiatives in addressing sustainable development, and detail the market impacts of multiple commodity sectors. This cutting-edge research will help companies and development projects better understand the status of voluntary initiatives worldwide.

The advisory panel will continue to meet throughout the year to refine the template for the Annual Review, develop the SSI reporting service and plan a series of benchmarking workshops. Contact us to learn more about participating on the SSI advisory panel.

Meet the SSI Project Development Team
This project brings together the institutional expertise of four organizations with a long standing history in the promotion of sustainable commodity production and trade - Aidenvironment, IIED, IISD and UNCTAD. The SSI project development team includes: