Certification

Office for Sustainable Development and Environment: 

Office for Sustainable Development and Environment ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION IN THE AMERICAS

Slide2: 

Instruments and mechanisms for achieving environmental policy goals: Compulsory Instruments Mandatory regulations Mixed Instruments Subsidies & pollution taxes Voluntary Instruments Self-regulatory programs State Intervention

Approaches to Certification: 

Approaches to Certification Process-based Measure intent more than outcome Establishment of an Environmental Management System Allow for continuous improvement Examples: ISO 14001 Green Globe

Approaches to Certification: 

Approaches to Certification Performance-based Measure achievement more than intent Set clear environmental and social standards More easily measure the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of a business More transparent and less expensive Allow for comparisons Involve a variety of stakeholders Equally suited for small and large business Examples: Certification for Sustainable Tourism

METHODS: 

METHODS Green issues: Certification of farming sector Certification of forestry sector Certification of tourism sector ISO 14000 not considered Sources Internet E-mail Phone interviews Focus in: Program growth Economic benefits Labor benefits

CERTIFICATION OF FARMING SECTOR: 

CERTIFICATION OF FARMING SECTOR

Programs: 

Programs Flowers Coffee Vegetables Fruits Meat Banana Cereals Farming

Effects of organic agriculture: 

Effects of organic agriculture Labor Human health Premium prices Chemical fertilizers Herbicides Phytohormones Costs Productivity Utilities Farming

Current state (Feb. 2005): 

Current state (Feb. 2005) Years 1999 - 2004. Data in millions of hectares. Source: IFOAM Farming

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CERTIFICATION OF FORESTRY SECTOR

Current state (May 2005): 

Current state (May 2005) Forestry FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATION IN OAS MEMBER COUNTRIES Area Countries Number of countries

Growth in OAS: 

Growth in OAS Forestry FSC: graphs only show data for OAS member countries Relative size of certified areas Number of certifications Certified area

FSC in OAS: 

FSC in OAS Forestry Millions of hectares CURRENT CERTIFIED AREA IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN OAS MEMBER STATES WITH FSC CERTIFIED OPERATIONS Year Number

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CERTIFICATION OF TOURISM

Current state (May 2005): 

Current state (May 2005) Tourism Countries Number of certifications Countries Number of certifications TOURISM CERTIFICATION IN OAS MEMBER COUNTRIES

BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATION: 

BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATION

Environmental benefits: 

Environmental benefits LESS Pollutants Erosion Energy expenditure Illegal timber  poaching and colonization MORE Conservation of natural areas Environmental education Imitation of sustainable practices Diversity

Economic benefits : 

Economic benefits High regional variation Better positioning in current market, better corporative image Access to new markets Creation of new markets (“green”)

Economic benefits: 

Economic benefits Premium prices Utz Kapeh in 2004: price premium of $0.04/lb ($0.6-$1, FAO) (Utz Kapeh) Market has grown and sells keep increasing Sales of organic food an drinks in USA in 2002 were estimated in more than U$11 billion, 2% of total (Produce Marketing Association) Organic fruits and vegetables in USA were 4% of 2002 sales (Produce Marketing Association)

Economic benefits: 

Economic benefits Better conditions for negotiating price (Sociedade Brasileira de Silvicultura) USA regions with few certified plantations: mills are willing to pay more (American Tree Farm System) Chains of custody may improve sale price Only 17% of the products made out of FSC certified wood have chain of custody (Diamond) Committed dealers: Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ikea, Kinko’s…

Economic benefits: 

Economic benefits La implementación de las normas de certificación implica ahorros en: Energía Agua potable Tratamiento de aguas residuales Generación de desperdicios Limpieza personal Apoyo del gobierno (Pennsylvania y Georgia) Marriott Worsley Park (Manchester, UK) ha ahorrado hasta U$90.000 anualmente

Labor benefits: 

Labor benefits THEORY: Change in rural labor demand because of use of new technologies (more technology) Offer Wage

Labor benefits: 

Labor benefits PRACTICE: New demand for profiles required by certifier programs and agencies Better managed harvest cycles lead to more permanent jobs Trainage promotion Improvement of working conditions Better performance of employees Larger labor demand Non inclusion of social schemes causes problems Higher participation of local communities Fair employment

Green Globe 21 – Caribbean: 

Green Globe 21 – Caribbean

Green Globe 21 – Caribbean: 

Green Globe 21 – Caribbean 90% saw a reduction in both water and electricity bills 67% saw recognizable staff motivation 40% stated that the hotel received international exposure as a result of their Green Globe participation; 93% of properties stated that they now have an effective management system in place and 91% are extremely or very satisfied with being certified 82% are extremely or very satisfied with the benefits of being Green Globe 21 certified CAST, 30 participants. Source: Green Globe Trotter 2(2), Feb. 2005

OPPORTUNITIES: 

OPPORTUNITIES

Corporative awareness: 

Corporative awareness GEMI survey 28 companies responded to the survey Opportunities Does your company have a formal definition/principles for SD? (n=26) This percentage is up from a 1999 GEMI survey, in which only 20% of companies had a formal definition of SD. Yes

Corporative awareness: 

Corporative awareness Opportunities In most companies, top management is considered knowledgeable about, and committed to, SD issues Rate top management commitment to SD (n=26) Rate top management awareness of SD issues (n=24) Very knowledgeable Knowledgeable Limited Limited Important Very important Top priority 85% of respondents think top management is aware of SD issues 81% of respondents think top management is committed to SD

Corporative awareness: 

Corporative awareness Oportunities When compared to 1999 survey results, more companies now consider SD a top issue Where does SD fall on your company’s “radar screen” of issues? Not considered Just on the screen In top 5 issues In top 10 issues 1999 2004 In 1999, only 14% felt that SD was a top 10 issue to the company compared to 50% in 2004

Corporative awareness: 

Corporative awareness Oportunities This favorably compares to 1999 when 24% of those surveyed thought it wouldn’t create much value How much value would an SD-based strategy create? 1999 2004 Not much Some Good amount In 1999, 24% thought that SD would not create much value, compared to 0% in 2004 In 2004, a higher percentage of respondents thought that SD would create a good or tremendous value (52% v. 85%) Tremendous amount

International market of certified products: 

International market of certified products Oportunities

Private promotion of certified products: 

Private promotion of certified products Global Forest and Trade Network of World Wildlife Fund Oportunites

What governments could do: 

What governments could do Help promote certified markets and certification programs Fund certification / Create low-cost certification programs Promote the purchase of certified products Discourage purchasing of non-certified products Green the government

Challenges for Certification Programs: 

Challenges for Certification Programs Becoming self-supporting Combining process and performance based approaches Marketing themselves Increasing credibility Avoiding conflicts of interest Integrating social parameters

Impact of Voluntary Programs on Local Communities: 

Impact of Voluntary Programs on Local Communities Potentially beneficial effects like: Hiring and training of locals Improvement of environmentally sound infrastructure However if community is not represented as a stakeholder, it may be overlooked Some argue that in the early stages of certification the only ones who benefit are the certifying agencies PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

“green”: 

“green” practices Jobs from

Jobs from “green” practices: 

Jobs from “green” practices Job creation potential from pollution-control efforts, energy and water conservation, "clean" industrial technologies and myriad other environmental improvements Plumas Corporation in California, retrains former timber industry employees in forest and watershed restoration Advantages include the reduction of dependence on foreign energy sources, opportunities for US exports, demand for domestic labor, and the creation of new jobs Environmentally friendly industries also tend to be more labor intensive than mechanized, large-scale production methods

Jobs from “green” practices: 

Jobs from “green” practices “Precious energy is wafting through inefficient windows and doors in buildings that could be retrofitted generating direct and indirect work. Water infrastructure is also woefully inefficient. According to the World Watch Institute's State of the World: 2004 report, 10-30 percent of all water supplied in the country is lost to leakage. Correcting this environmental indifference would stimulate major job creation and, far from "make work," a national effort to improve water treatment and conservation would represent vital and farsighted civic investment” Source: DiPerna “Jobs and Environment Initiative” MISI

Jobs from “green” practices: 

Jobs from “green” practices In 1992, environmental protection spending created 4 million jobs nationwide and generated $355 billion in industry sales U.S. environmental-protection workforce encompassed 5.1 million jobs in 2004 More than 10x the pharmaceutical Almost 3x the chemical industry In 2002, pollution-abatement and control programs created, directly and indirectly, roughly 12,000 jobs for sheet-metal workers Restoring the nation's degraded fisheries could create 300,000 jobs, as well as improve the social and economic health of coastal communities Recycling 150,000 tons of solid waste creates 9 jobs, while incinerating it creates only 2 and land filling only 1 The petroleum and electric industries generate about 5 jobs per $1 million invested, while the weatherization of buildings to enhance energy efficiency can produce 50 jobs Source: Management Information Services, Inc.

Jobs from “green” practices: 

Jobs from “green” practices Labor Requirements for Renewable Energy Technologies Estimates of total hours required to manufacture, install and service wind and solar equipment, and to collect, transport and process biomass Source: Virinder Singh & BBC Research and Consulting