UNFSS Academic Advisory Council Annual Meeting 2022: Voluntary Sustainability Standards: a SWOT Analysis

The UNFSS Academic Advisory Council (AAC) annual meeting brings together an international mix of academic and policy experts from various disciplines and backgrounds to consolidate the knowledge on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of VSS effectiveness. The UNFSS AAC Annual Meeting 2022 will conduct a SWOT analysis of voluntary sustainability standards structured around the internal and external dimensions of VSS, with a development related lens. 

On the internal dimension, the AAC meeting will explore the strengths and weaknesses of VSS in advancing the sustainability agenda, especially in developing countries, with a specific focus on VSS institutional design and on their impacts on the ground. The discussions will ultimately distil the settings in which VSS are effective and identify areas for improvement.  

On the external dimension, the AAC meeting will highlight the opportunities and threats that VSS face as a private governance tool that interacts with other regulatory initiatives. More specifically, the discussions will explore developments in trade policy, national standards, due diligence regulations and policy mixes and the way VSS fit in these. Ultimately, the AAC meeting will assess the implications of these policy developments on the role VSS can play to contribute to a consolidated regulatory framework for sustainability and will identify the related challenges especially for developing countries. 

The AAC meeting will be structured around 6 sessions that include a mix of academics, practitioners and policy-makers to share scientific evidence and policy considerations on VSS as tools to promote sustainable development.