Abstract
This paper explores the potential for voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) organizations to contribute to policy-making on biodiversity protection by examining their biodiversity policies, total standard compliant area, proximity to biodiversity hotspots, and the networks and partnerships they have in place that can support policy-making on biodiversity protection. The analysis undertaken is based on Social Network Analysis data, in combination with information from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Standards and Biodiversity Review and the International Trade Centre (ITC) Standards Map on the focus and operation of VSS organizations. The significance of agriculture-focused private governance for global biodiversity policy and their relationship towards other forms of nongovernmental, governmental, and inter-governmental biodiversity policy are examined and described. We argue that, at present, a number of key agriculture-focused VSS organizations are important policy actors to address biodiversity because of their elaborate biodiversity policies, total compliant areas, and proximity to biodiversity hotspots. However, at present, most of these VSS organizations have relatively few ties with relevant governmental and inter-governmental biodiversity policymakers. The actor composition of their inter-organizational networks currently reflects a focus on nongovernmental rather than governmental organizations while substantively they focus more on development than on environmental protection issues.
Highlights
Policymakers and academics alike are interested in the degree to which Voluntary Sustainability Standard (VSS) policies can contribute positively to biodiversity and/or prevent harm to biodiversity [1]
This means that significant presence in other crops is needed for VSS organizations to have a more meaningful impact on biodiversity protection; second, while most VSS analyzed have a clear emphasis on habitat conversation, only a few focus on climate change, another important driver of biodiversity loss; third, most standards prescribe practices rather than performance outcomes when it comes to biodiversity protection; fourth, it would appear that VSS organizations may not be operating in zones where there are the greatest threats to biodiversity and the absence or proprietary nature of geographic information system data on standard compliant farms prevents a more accurate assessment
With increasing interest in the potential of VSS organizations to contribute to biodiversity protection and policy-making on biodiversity, we have investigated VSS organization standards, operations, locations of certified areas, and network ties
Summary
Policymakers and academics alike are interested in the degree to which Voluntary Sustainability Standard (VSS) policies can contribute positively to biodiversity and/or prevent harm to biodiversity [1]. The study first draws from datasets from Fransen et al [5], which focused on VSS organizations governing global agro-commodity chains, such as coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, palm oil, cotton, soy, and flowers Information from these datasets is complemented by data on these commodities from the International Institute for Sustainable Development Sustainability Standards Initiative report on standards and biodiversity [1], the International Trade Centre’s Standards Map data, and the recent groundbreaking study by Tayleur et al [11] on the location of agriculture-focused VSS organization standard-compliant areas. As is the convention in academic and grey literature on VSS [1,5,11], we focus on multiple crops, given how many VSS organizations themselves focus on various crops and are expected to affect policy-making on various crops Combining these four data sources allows us to analyze 11 relevant VSS focused on agro-commodities.
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