Background

Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are norms and standards that ensure products are harvested, produced, processed, or transported in accordance with certain sustainability metrics, such as environmental impact, human rights, labor standards, and gender equality. Today close to 500 VSS exist, which apply to key exports of many countries such as coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa, palm oil, timber, cotton, spices and organic agri-foods.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes international trade as "an engine for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction." With VSS increasingly being referenced in trade agreements to foster sustainable development and good governance, they can be an effective tool to incentivize governments and companies to adopt practices aligned with environmental, social, and economic objectives.

VSS can play a vital role in biodiversity conservation, which is emerging as one of the most pressing global issues today. Effective mechanisms like VSS are essential to shift the impact of global economic drivers on nature toward sustainably managing and conserving biodiversity and its ecosystem services.

In South Africa, the BioTrade sector is a significant contributor to the country's economy and plays a crucial role in biodiversity conservation efforts. However, there are challenges in ensuring that these sectors operate sustainably and contribute to the preservation of South Africa's rich biodiversity. To address this challenge, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has been exploring the development of a Charter, which aims to establish a public-private partnership model for effectively implementing sustainability standards across biodiversity value chains.

Against this backdrop, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) are jointly organizing a workshop aimed at bringing together various stakeholders to share knowledge, explore partnerships, and develop concrete strategies for mainstreaming VSS while supporting the implementation of the Charter and other relevant national initiatives.

This online workshop is organized with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO under the Global BioTrade Programme “Linking trade, biodiversity and sustainable development”. The outputs and recommendations from the workshop will be considered and further explored for the new trade and biodiversity programme under UNCTAD.

Objectives

1. Explore public-private partnership models and multi-stakeholder approaches for effectively implementing the proposed Charter across biodiversity value chains in South Africa.
2. Facilitate knowledge sharing and peer learning on the use of VSS among BioTrade companies in South Africa, including lessons learned from other countries and initiatives.
3. Identify opportunities and challenges in mainstreaming VSS related to biodiversity conservation, and areas where UNCTAD can provide support and add value.
4. Gather insights and recommendations from stakeholders that will feed into the development of UNCTAD's new trade and biodiversity program, ensuring it addresses the specific needs and contexts of South Africa as well as other target countries.

What will take place?

This two-day workshop will take place on 19-20 August 2024. It includes in-person participation in Pretoria, South Africa. The workshop will be conducted in English.

Target audience

• Government agencies
• Industry associations
• NGOs
• Standard setting organizations
• BioTrade companies
• International organizations
• Potential representatives from other countries implementing BioTrade