Topic 5d Value Chains & Trade

News

CBD-COP 2018 in Egypt
Our topic group has given input to the negotiators at the UN Biodiversity Conference 2018, the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity - COP 14, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 17-29 November 2018. ISDRS organized jointly with IUNCBD jointly a side-event where two policy briefs were presented on smarter use of certification; on how Governments can increase their impact; and on Lanscape Initiatives. Look for our Policy Briefs here.

Special Issue
We just publish a special issue in Business Strategy and the Environment about Challenges of the Sustainability Transition in Global Trade,  based on the 5d track at the ISDRS conference in Lisbon in 2016.

Current trends
Recent analysis of current trends in the field of Voluntary Sustainability Standards is available at the ITC Sustainability Map's trends page.

Mainstreaming?
Are voluntary standards entering the mainstream now? See the latest data in the new State of Sustainability Markets 2017.

Moving beyond certification: direct trade
Third party certification is one way to improve production conditions of internationally traded products and commodities. End-producers directly collaborating with producers of coffee, cacao are another growing approach. We discuss developments in this field in a recent publication.

Most related UN-SDGs

Next Conference: Track 5d

Keep up to date with developments of ISDRS 2024 Track 5d here 

“Linking Futures of Mountain and Ocean: Rescuing the SDGs 2030 for Sustainable Livelihood“

Past Conference

Summary of discussions in ISDRS Conference 2018 in Messina, track 5d, Wednesday 13th and Friday 15thJune 2018

In two sessions we had 10 papers presented addressing diverse product groups (cotton, salmon, cement, cacao/chocolate and dairy), produced in various continents. Most shared the focus on assessing the full (Planet, People, Prosperity) range of sustainability aspects, while a few made steps towards monetary evaluation of this. Some had a focus on the role of lead companies or a wide review perspective. A common theme emerging across the presentations was the weaker than anticipated impact of many sustainable supply chain initiatives vis-à-vis their own stated goals and those delineated by the UN SDGs. To achieve greater impact and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, it may be necessary to identify complementary or even alternative, non-voluntary measures. READ MORE

Discussions in Bogota - 2017 ISDRS Conference

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Knowledge Resources

State of the Art:
Still after three UN Conferences on Sustainable Development we are increasingly facing major persistent threats, like poverty, food insecurity, climate change, ecosystems degradation, which despite being known for a few decades are still far away from being solved – or are even still increasing.  the level of individual business, this has four major implications [read more].

Recommended Sources:
The top useful sources are the following:
1) Full details about the growing number of voluntary sustainability standards can be found on the ITC Sustainability Map
2) ISEAL Alliance maintains a database of publications on impacts of certification.
3) Look at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network on Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems; and on Redefining the Role of Business.
4) Useful courses available at the UN SDG Academy; see for example "Globalization: past and future".
5) MSI Integrity has created a MSI Database, a searchable, online overview of the landscape of transnational, standard-setting MultiSItakeholder Initiatives.

 

 

Routledge & Earthscans' Sustainability Hub

Find useful essays, free books and articles, case studies and more at our partner's website: 

Who are we?

Who are we?
Dr. Valerie Nelson, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, London, UK.
Dr. Ximena Rueda, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia

How to get involved?
Do you want to contribute to our knowledge platform and engage in exchanging best practices? We invite ISDRS members (senior and junior scientists) interested in this topic to join and participate, please mail us!

Look at how you can contribute to our topic groups

LinkedIn Discussions in our Topic group 5d

Recent discourses on the ISDRS LinkedIn discussion group:

Oct. 2017: Antonio Graca: Using sustainable development actions to promote the relevance of mountain wines in export markets.

Partner organisations

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