Standards are a viable tool for spurring transformation toward sustainable development in emerging economies, but the uptake of standards by leaders in these countries depends on building awareness and ownership of credible sustainability standards. Where economic development and trade are increasing, standards and certification can demonstrate a clear pathway for improving sustainability practices at the production level and encouraging socially and environmentally responsible choices through the entire supply chain.
The ISEAL Alliance has undertaken a landmark three year project in partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to increase the use of sustainability standards so as to support emerging economy leaders in Brazil, India and China to maximise sustainable development in their countries.
ISEAL will convene emerging economy leaders in government, standards systems, and private sector companies to generate learning and ownership so that standards can be used more readily in Brazil, India and China. Local networks will be strengthened and relationships cultivated across the three emerging economies to promote the standards community as a whole. This will allow sustainability standards to demonstrate their credibility and effectiveness on a larger scale. Through this project, ISEAL will also facilitate learning on new models to ensure locally appropriate applications of standards while also ensure global consistency across international trade.
Sustainable Public Procurement
A second stream of work supported by SECO aims to build awareness of sustainability standards among public procurement officials and develop tools to strengthen existing and emerging sustainable public procurement structures globally, A key tool to be developed for public procurement officials and other users of standards systems is a set of high-level credibility principles that will provide globally agreed consensus on what defines a credible and effective standard system. ISEAL will also develop a taxonomy of sustainability claims to help make sense of the current landscape. Sustainable public procurement officials will be invited to contribute to the development of these tools so that they can be incorporated into sustainable public procurement frameworks.
Further information
- Download our ISEAL-SECO project overview factsheet
- Download our Emerging Economies and Sustainability Standards factsheet
- Download our Public Procurement and Sustainability Standards factsheet
