Ready to Drive the Market Experiences from Road Tes9ng the Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Informa8on h;p://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/consumer-informa9on-scp
11th Mar 11th March 2019 Nair h 2019 Nairobi, K bi, Ken enya a
OBJECTIVE Support the provision of quality informa9on on Co-led by: goods and services, and effec9ve strategies to engage consumers in sustainable consump9on Supported by: Mul9-stakeholder Advisory Commi;ee; partner ins9tu9ons h;p://www.oneplanetnetwork.org Sign up to our newsle=er and/or become a partner by emailing: CISCP@un.org PAGE
Ob ObjecI jecIves es of t of the Gu e Guidel elines es Ø Contribute to the achievement of SDG 12 Ø Improve the reliability of consumer informaAon for sustainable consumpAon through interna9onal consensus Ø Set a common ground of minimum requirements to remove poten9al for greenwashing Ø AcAvely encourage organiza9ons to take leadership and communicate quality, useful informa9on to consumers Sustainable Development Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consump8on and produc8on pa>erns Target 12.8 By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant informa8on and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature
Th The P e Princi ciples es
Ro Road TesIng Exercise To understand how feasible it is to apply the Guidelines, including over different sectors and type of claims To iden9fy where most challenges lie for future work on product sustainability informa9on To collect good prac9ce case studies and lessons learned in different regions and sectors For companies & standard-se1ng organisa3ons: Serve as reference to compare their sustainability claims or their cer8fica8on schemes to the Guidelines
THE ‘ROAD TESTERS’ ESPAÑA
Gen Gener eral R Res esults • Overall per9nence of the two categories of principles propounded by the Guidelines (fundamental and aspira9onal principles) was confirmed • The 10 Principles are easy to comprehend and have the poten9al to help organiza9ons improve the communica9on tools they employ • The applica9on of the Guidelines can indeed make claims more objec9ve, consistent and clear for consumers Challenges and strengths in applying the different principles might vary over types of organiza9ons and claims (i.e. regarding challenges and strengths in mee9ng different principles)
Gen Gener eral R Res esults Companies Standard-seMers Companies that analysed self- Principle 7 (Behaviour Change assessed claims found the and Longer Term Impact) hard more difficult ques9ons were to apply: they usually do not around rigor and credibility have direct interac9on with (principle 1 Reliability and individual end consumers principle 2 Relevance) SMEs faced greatest challenges Principle 6 (Three Dimensions when applying principle 8 of Sustainability) hard to apply (Mul9-Channel and Innova9ve for single-issue cer9fica9on Approach) and principle 9 schemes: overall sustainability (Collabora9on): demand is not claimed addi9onal resources and planning
Main Challeng Main Challenges es Availability of space on pack • The compe99on with other messages concerning safety, nutri9on, health, and performance was regarded as a great challenge. Complexity of sustainability informaAon • Road testers acknowledged the difficulty in communica9ng technical terms to the general public, without oversatura9ng or confusing consumers. Lack of harmonized approaches • Collabora9on should be increased between standard-se_ng organisa9ons and the brands that have a consumer-oriented approach, as well as an extra effort to work towards greater harmoniza9on between the various standard schemes.
Ho How t w to fu o furt rther p er progr ogress i ess in t the fiel e field Provide addi9onal guidance on implementa9on of the following approaches and principles Provide further instruc9ons on how the Guidelines can be applied by different type of organiza9ons and claims Enhance collabora9ons and create synergies Work on policy level
(1) Pr (1) Provide addiIo vide addiIonal guidance o nal guidance on implemen n implementaIo aIon o n of the f the fo following approaches and principles Hotspots Analysis Approach: The majority of road testers were not familiar with this approach prior to the road tes9ng. More guidance is needed in order to clarify what hotspots analysis means and its relevance to communica9ng product sustainability informa9on. Principle 4 (Transparency): The poten9al that new technologies can bring for progress in this principle should be recognized and further discussed, considering that data-enabled technologies provide informa9on to consumers first hand in real 9me, while also addressing the challenge of limited space on pack. Principle 6 (Three Dimensions of Sustainability): Considering there are s9ll no interna9onally recognized standards or labels that cover all three aspects of the full life cycle, the Guidelines suggest that companies look at combining standards and methodologies to ensure all three dimensions of sustainability are taken into account.
(1) Provide addiIo (1) Pr vide addiIonal guidance o nal guidance on implemen n implementaIo aIon o n of the f the fo following approaches and principles Principle 7 (Behaviour Change and Longer Term Impact): Further guidance should be provided on how to monitor changes in behaviour of consumers. This process is regarded as demanding and onerous, especially for small and medium sized organiza9ons. Principle 9 (CollaboraAon): It was recognised as a crucial next step to involve consumers in the development of the claims. Need of addi9onal advice on how SMEs could use their limited resources and capacity to involve relevant stakeholders during the development of the claims. Principle 10 (Comparability): D eveloping compara9ve claims is challenging. Defini9on of comparable methods and criteria for higher number of product categories could s9mulate the coherent implementa9on of this principle.
(2) Provide further ins (2) Pr vide further instrucIo trucIons o ns on ho n how the G w the Guidelines c uidelines can be an be applie applied b d by diffe y different type t type o of o f organiz anizaIo aIons and c ns and claims laims Promote good pracAces from various types of Tools (labels, product declara9ons, ra9ngs, marke9ng claims, communica9on campaigns, life cycle assessment); Organiza9on (companies or standard-se;ers); Approach (single or mul9-issue); Status (exis9ng or under development) Give more prac9cal advice for other corporate areas such as markeAng , procurement and product development .
(3) Enhance c (3) Enhance collabo llaboraIo aIons and cr ns and crea eate s e syner ynergies gies Build partnerships with a focus on a replicaAon effect Promote ac9vi9es to strengthen collaboraAon with retailers considering their role in promo9ng more sustainable goods in a visible and appealing way to end consumers Collaborate for country and sector level awareness raising and iden9fica9on of na9onal and sectoral specifici9es
(4) W (4) Work o rk on P n Policy Le licy Level el Provide examples of how countries are applying the Guidelines and make them a more concrete tool for governments Link to naAonal processes and instruments , although recognizing that consumer informa9on is an issue that needs interna9onal consensus Engage with naAonal markeAng surveillance authori9es and regulators responsible for overseeing consumer marke9ng and claims on a na9onal level Con9nue to lic the Guidelines to a more poliAcal and strategic global sphere , for which the involvement of governments will be crucial
TESTIMONIES ESPAÑA Download report & case studies at h>p://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/consumer-informa8on-scp/
On Online Hu e Hub h>p://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/consumer-informa8on-scp/ product-sustainability-informa8on-hub
Road-testing the ‘Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information’ – our experiences
Leaping Bunny • The Leaping Bunny is the international gold- standard certification for cruelty-free cosmetics, personal care and household products • The Leaping Bunny logo is the best assurance that a brand has committed to driving animal testing out of its entire supply chain • Operated globally by Cruelty Free International and our partners • Over 1,200 brands certified worldwide, growing rapidly as consumers increasingly demand more ethical & sustainable products
Challenges of applying the guidelines to Leaping Bunny • Certification deals only with animal testing • Hard to assess against some of the aspirational principles Ø Three dimensions of sustainability • We know from brands and consumers that the certification influences behaviour change Ø We are to develop evidence
Positives from applying the guidelines to the Leaping Bunny • Strong responses to all of the fundamental principles Ø Reliability Ø Relevance (criteria stricter than legislation) Ø Accessibility through the Leaping Bunny logo • Road-testing provided useful tool for assessing the certification • Helped form thinking on next steps and global growth
Road-testing the ‘Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information’ www.CrueltyFreeInternational.org Phone: +44 (0) 207 700 4888 Address: 16a Crane Grove, London, N7 8NN, UK Email: jack.mcquibban@crueltyfreeinternational.org Website: www.CrueltyFreeInternational.org
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