Stories

January 12, 2022

The Circular Economy: Can Voluntary Sustainability Standards play a role in bidding adieu to the ‘take, make, waste’ model?

The last three decades have witnessed a worsening of the world’s environmental problems. The global use of natural resources has more than tripled since 1970 and continues to grow, pushing climate stability and ecosystems worldwide to the limits of their resilience. This reflects a pertinent need to shift towards sustainable consumption and production pathways. But how can we achieve that? A circular economy might provide some solutions. While there is no singular definition of a circular economy, it most

Read more
December 23, 2021

UNFSS 2021 Activity Highlights

Another eventful year has come to an end. None of the successes we achieved during the year happened by chance. The UNFSS Secretariat thank you for all your support for making things happen, despite a difficult year due to the pandemic. As we look forward to welcoming 2022 with you, allow us to take this opportunity to highlight some of our key activities in 2021. Academic Advisory Council (AAC) Annual Meeting In November 2021, the UNFSS co-organized the Academic Advisory Council (AAC)

Read more
timelapse photo of train
December 15, 2021

Podcast feature: Voluntary sustainability standards and trade in developing countries 

Globalization has brought profound changes to international trade over the last 50 years. Value chains are now spread around the globe and are becoming more complex. Today, about US $8 trillion worth of world trade goes through Global Value Chains (GVCs), accounting for nearly 70% of the total share of global trade. According to UNCTAD’s research, majority of the developing countries are increasingly participating in GVCs. As a result, the developing-country share in global value-added trade increased from 20%

Read more
December 7, 2021

Standards and Poverty Reduction: What role do Voluntary Sustainability Standards play? 

03rd December 2021, Geneva – The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched the report- IISD’s SSI Review: Standards and Poverty Reduction. The report was launched in a joint UNCTAD-IISD webinar, held as a part of IISD Trade + Sustainability Hub, 2021. The report examines the potential of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) operating in the agriculture sector to reduce poverty, which includes a chapter that UNCTAD and IISD wrote jointly on Understanding Smallholder Farmer Access to VSS-compliant Markets.  It is estimated that 80% of the

Read more
November 24, 2021

Research Frontiers on the Adoption, Impact and Effectiveness of Voluntary Sustainability Standards

The United Nations introduced the word “sustainability” into common usage, and defined sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”- Brundtland Report, 1987. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has broadened the scope and premise of the strategies for development with full considerations for social factors as it includes employment, education, nutrition, health, income distribution, poverty reduction, basic needs, the environment. However, there cannot

Read more
turned on monitor displaying frequency graph
September 30, 2021

Fostering Sustainable Trade in the APEC Region

On 14 September 2021, the UNFSS co-organized a 3-day Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Stakeholder VSS Awareness Workshop together with the APEC Secretariat and the Department of Standards Malaysia. APEC is comprised of 21 member economies which aims to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration. Against this background, the UNFSS has been a close partner to deliberate the

Read more
ground group growth hands
September 6, 2021

Leveraging collaboration, transparency, and fairness to enhance VSS effectiveness in achieving sustainable development

On 30 August 2021, UNCTAD launched its report “Better Trade for Sustainable Development: The Role of Voluntary Sustainability Standards” in a webinar chaired by Ms. Isabelle Durant, Acting Secretary-General of UNCTAD. Ms. Durant highlighted the need to pursue development under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) umbrella. While she indicated the role of international trade as a means of implementation for the achievement of the SDGs, she referred, as well, to the adverse social and environmental impacts resulted

Read more
black concrete biulding
August 23, 2021

Better Trade for Sustainable Development: The Role of Voluntary Sustainability Standards

The expansion of international trade in the last decades, although it has brought economic and societal benefits across the globe, sometimes led to failure in addressing the adverse social and environmental impacts. Sustainable trade takes place when these adverse impacts are mitigated, and the international exchange of goods and services yields positive social, economic and environmental benefits [Read: Minding the gap to foster better trade for sustainable development]. For trade to become a ‘sustainable engine’, one approach

Read more
June 29, 2021

Revitalizing the principal role of smallholder farmers as economic contributors

On 17 June 2021, the UNFSS and Evidensia co-organized the 3rd and last Academic Advisory Roundtable Series on Sustainability Standards and Economic concerns to highlight the role of trade in economic growth and development. According to Mr. Santiago Fernandez de Cordoba, UNFSS coordinator and UNCTAD senior economist, in order to respond to the environmental and socio-economic challenges brought by globalization, there is a need for powerful tools and instruments to ensure that the benefits brought by trade must become more inclusive

Read more
man wearing blue hat spraying yellow flowers on field
May 25, 2021

Sustainability Standards and Economic Concerns: An Academic Roundtable Discussion

When Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) emerged in the late 20th century, they were heralded as innovative new instruments to help meet some of the most pressing sustainability challenges. Disappointment in the lack of meaningful government policy commitments and/or ineffective implementation of traditional ´command-and-control´ regulatory systems spurred the emergence of these market-based instruments. The question is whether VSS have been able to deliver on their promise to bring about fundamental, lasting changes in sustainability practice. Putting focus on the economic benefits, SDGs

Read more