Launching the annual reports of COSA and SSI, 30-31 January 2014

The UNFSS, in collaboration with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), will be organizing three short events on the occasion of the launch of the State of Sustainability Initiatives (SSI) Review 2014 and the First COSA Global Report on 30 and 31 January 2014.

The events will provide an opportunity to discuss, on the one hand, current challenges in and potential solutions to data collection and analysis on voluntary sustainability standards’ processes and impacts and, on the other hand, to exchange views with the authors of the State of Sustainability Review 2014 and the COSA Global Report on a comprehensive review of market trends, system performance, and impact research on popular sustainability standards to date. We have the pleasure to invite you to these events.

The event in the afternoon of 31 January will be a dedicated discussion with policy makers on the needs of, and tools available to policy makers related to impact and market data collection on sustainability standards.  It will provide a unique opportunity to explore larger, systems-based solutions to shared data collection challenges.

The SSI Data Collection Collaborative Workshop will take place on:

30 January 2014 at the Maison de l’Environnement in Chatelaine from 9:00 to 17:00

The launch of the SSI Review 2014 and the First COSA Global Report will take place on:

31 January 2014 at the Palais des Nations Geneva, Switzerland, conference room XXVI, from 09:00 – 13:00

The joint UNFSS – SSI-COSA sustainability standards policy discussion will take place on:

31 January 2014 at the Palais des Nations, conference room XXVI from 15:00 – 18:00

A program on each event can be found below.

Further information on logistics for the meeting and the background documents will be posted well in time.

Downloads:

UNFSS-COSA-SSI Events January 30-31

SSI and COSA Reports:

SSI Review 2014

The COSA Measuring Sustainability Report

 

Presentations:

For presentations from the workshop, please go to COSA-SSI Workshop Documentation.

The United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS) is a joint initiative of 5 UN Agencies (FAO, ITC, UNCTAD, UN Environment and UNIDO) that seeks to address these challenges. It is a demand-driven forum for intergovernmental actors to communicate among each other and engage with key target groups (producers, traders, consumers, standard-setters, certification-bodies, trade diplomats, relevant NGOs and researchers) to address their information needs and influence concerned stakeholders. It aims to provide impartial information, analysis, and discussions on VSS and their potential contribution to facilitate market access, strengthen public goods and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most importantly, the UNFSS focuses on potential trade or development obstacles VSS may create, with particular emphasis on their impact on SMEs and less developed countries.

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