Publisher's Synopsis
This fourth global report on The State of Sustainable Markets provides new insights into the evolution of certified agriculture and forestry and indicates significant growth in sustainability markets. It demonstrates how ITC supports "good trade" that contributes to environmental and social sustainability for both producers and consumers through collaboration with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, providing data about 14 major sustainability standards for: bananas, cocoa, coffee, cotton, oil palm, soybeans, sugarcane, tea, and forestry products. Each product features serious sustainability challenges: child labour, water scarcity, workers' rights, use of chemicals, etc. This report facilitates transparency by summarizing each product's respective challenges and by showing which standards' initiatives are gaining traction. Such transparency helps to address major societal problems, while shaping decisions of those policymakers, producers and businesses working to address systemic labour and environmental challenges through certified sustainable production.
