In agriculture, ISEAL members such as Fairtrade International are helping farmers to reduce their vulnerability to climate impacts and partnering with businesses to address climate change at the producer level. Sustainability standards are effective for mitigating climate change because sustainable practices are often climate-friendly. 4C Association's Climate Module and Rainforest Alliance / Sustainable Agriculture Network’s Climate Standard promote practices that reduce GHG emissions from farming and increase producers’ capacity to adapt to climate change.
Because sustainable forestry and agriculture have the potential to store carbon, standards are exploring how certified producers could access carbon credits and participate in offset projects. The global initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is an important part of the work of our members active in forestry such as Rainforest Alliance and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Many emerging standards are taking climate impacts into consideration from the outset. On the issue of water, whose availability is linked to climate change, ISEAL associate member Alliance for Water Stewarship (AWS) is developing an international standard for sustainable water use, while Bonsucro has integrated water targets into its sugar production standard.
Renewable energy is one of the flagship solutions to climate change. ISEAL member Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels has developed a sophisticated calculator to demonstrate that certified biofuels result in lower GHG emissions than fossil fuels.
