Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals: Leveraging sustainability standards for reporting on SDG progress

9 May 2023. This event shared the findings of a new IISD SSI Review: Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals: Leveraging sustainability standards for reporting on SDG progress. 

It explored how governments can work with voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) to advance the SDGs and better track and report progress toward achieving them.

The report includes three case studies from India, Tanzania, and Uganda to demonstrate how VSSs can help governments prepare voluntary national reviews for the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which outline their progress on advancing the SDGs in their jurisdictions.

From these 3 reporting examples, the authors distill a series of practical guidelines to help governments work together with VSSs to advance the SDGs and fill the data gaps that many face when tracking their progress.

VSSs exist in many sectors—notably agriculture, forestry, textiles, and mining and extractives—and their requirements can cover a broad range of activities along the supply chain (e.g., production, processing, manufacturing, and consumption). As such, many organizations have expressed interest in drawing attention to “alignment,” or how the formal requirements of VSSs address issues similar to those found in the SDGs and can potentially support their implementation. (page 2)

VSS requirements for organic agriculture, for example, might contribute directly to SDG target 2.4 on the implementation of sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices.  (page 3)

Governments face many challenges when it comes to national SDG reporting, including data availability. These challenges can make reporting a daunting task for many governments, particularly in the Global South. 

Governments could enhance their SDG reporting by using relevant data from voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) monitoring and evaluation or sustainability impact measurement documents.  

Arguments have been made for the use of GMOs in agriculture to help achieve zero hunger by 2030 and to aid in food security and sustainability. However, GMO crops can disrupt ecosystems, contaminate water and food supplies, and harm soil microbiomes. (...) While the role of VSSs—especially those active in the agriculture sector—in biodiversity conservation has been broadly discussed in  extant literature mixed results have been reported on their impacts.  (page 33)

Fairtrade International has been delivering business and leadership skills training and support to the Gumutindo Coffee Cooperative in Uganda. (...) This is an example of how VSS-supported educational efforts can promote gender equality (SDG 5) in accessing land titles and income improvements under SDG 2, among other benefits. (page 7 Summary)

The main agricultural commodities certified by VSSs in Tanzania are export crops, such as coffee, tea, cotton, cocoa, bananas, and some forest products. Tanzania also engages with the regional ARSO sustainability and eco-labelling scheme for agriculture. (page 78)

Fairtrade certification often means that women and men working on those farms get the same rights, regulated work hours, improved safety regulations, and better and equal wages through the introduction of a minimum base wage, as in Mount Meru in Tanzania. Following these changes, employees' incomes at the Mount Meru Flowers rose plantation increased by 30%, in addition to supplemental payments for different roles taken at the plantation. The Fairtrade Premium at Mount Meru—about 10% of each flower stalk sold—is reinvested in health care or education projects selected by workers at the plantation. Higher incomes also helped pay school fees for workers’ children, as well as members of their families and themselves. (page 82)

• Moderator: Cristina Larrea, Lead II, Sustainability Standards, IISD
• Keynote speaker: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Chair, UN Committee for Development Policy
• Elena Kosolapova, Senior Policy Advisor, SDG Knowledge Hub Content Editor, IISD
• Alex Lwakuba, Commissioner for Crop Production, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries of Uganda
• Chariton Namuwoza, Chief Executive Officer, National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda
• Vidya Rangan, Senior Manager, Impacts and Innovations, ISEAL Alliance
• Rijit Sengupta, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Responsible Business, India
• Lynn Wagner, Senior Director, Tracking Progress Program, IISD
• Uchita de Zoysa, Chairman, Global Sustainability Solutions, Former Chief Negotiator for the UN SDGs and Advisor to the Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, Sri Lanka

Resource:

Elena, K., Rupal, V., Laura, T., & Ann, W. (2023). IISD's State of Sustainability Initiatives Review: Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals: Leveraging sustainability standards for reporting on SDG progress. International Institute for Sustainable Development. # 150 p.

Elena, K., Rupal, V., Laura, T., & Ann, W. (2023). IISD's State of Sustainability Initiatives Review: Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals: Leveraging sustainability standards for reporting on SDG progress. SUMMARY. # 14 p.