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Details

Sponsors: Tom Rotherham, IISD ; Tomme Young, IUCN (moderator)

Focusing on the need for win-win situations, and linking to concepts of the “business case for social responsibility,” and the principles of sustainable use of biological resources, this workshop brought together government, industry, NGOs and IGOs, to analyse certification (standards, labeling and direct certification and benchmarking) and its potential as a tool for advancing key conservation objectives.

Certification, standard-setting and eco-labeling are long-existing tools of responsible commercial operations. Increasingly, these tools have been identified as possible avenues to promote key conservation and sustainability objectives, as part of a larger package of social responsibility processes that also address social and ethical issues. It is not a simple process, however, to apply a commercial/operational tool in a way that it creates an incentive to actions that address objectives outside of the primary objectives of commercial enterprises. Over 80 experts and representatives of governments, businesses, and NGOs, examined underlying assumptions and recent experience regarding both the primary value of certification as a conservation tool, and also considered the additional challenges that will need to be met.

Key conclusions and recommendations:

Certification can be a tool for sustainability, but the concept is still evolving; Certification alone is not sustainability. For certification to work, we need to create mutual understanding between business and the environmental community;

We need to better understand the linkages between certification and other sustainability mechanisms;

Business must understand and help achieve sustainability objectives, while NGOs must become aware of and accept the need to provide tangible benefits to businesses.

Related Links

Certification..., afternoon session (831)

Business events at WCC3

Congress website

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