The Consumer Goods Forum is expanding its Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative’s scope for benchmarking to include environmental sustainability in addition to its existing scope for social impact.
Following the update, the Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) will now provide third-party accreditation schemes with minimum criteria for industry-expected standards or environmental sustainability across three key areas. These will be:
Primary production: The environmental impact of farming of agricultural commodities, including animal farming and field packing.
Forestry: The environmental impact on forests of usage of fibre-based wood, paper and pulp.
Manufacturing: The environmental impact of conversion and manufacturing sites, including all consumer goods and post farm gate activities.
Recognising that complex supply chains present a particular challenge to many businesses around the world looking to prioritise sustainability and push the envelope on corporate due diligence initiatives, the SSCI acts to bring consumer goods companies from around the world to drive increased action on responsible sourcing.
Until now, this has focused heavily on the social development within those complex supply chains. However, in 2022, the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) revealed its plans to being work on a benchmarking tool for environmental sustainability, too.
Didier Bergeret, sustainability director of the CGF, said: “Supply chains are vast and businesses need guarantees that all stakeholders involved are adhering to sustainable practices. Created by the industry, for the industry, the SSCI supports organisations in their supply chain due diligence.
“The needs of people and our planet are intrinsically interlinked, so we must keep stepping up as an industry to build trust in social and environmental standards worldwide; extending the scope of our industry aligned criteria to include environmental standards is a critical part of this.”
Developed to provide the consumer goods industry with a benchmarking resource with which to wade through the many third-party verification and certification schemes currently on the market, the SSCI wants to help set a global, supply chain standard when it comes to environmental sustainability.
“We encourage schemes and the industry to follow our social and environmental criteria and to take the leap and apply for benchmarking against our existing social and new environmental criteria.”
The SSCI published its first benchmark in 2019, to recognise the third-party auditing, monitoring, and certification schemes that align to best practice in social sustainability. From here, the SSCI established a minimum standards for companies’ primary production, manufacturing and processing, and at-sea operations. Since then, four schemes have been recognised under the social scope with several more in progress.
The expansion of the benchmark’s scope comes as regulation is rapidly evolving, with the EU’s Deforestation Regulation coming into effect at the end of 2024.
Tamara Muruetagoiena, vice president of sustainability at International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) and Chair of the SSCI’s Environmental Working Group, said: “Our supply chains have far-reaching impacts and can make a significant difference to environmental sustainability, ecosystem health and fair labour. As a responsible business, we know our supply chain approaches and standards need to stand up to scrutiny – and this is why ensuring trust in the environmental and social schemes we are all using is so critical.”
