The ISEAL Innovations Fund launched a call in July 2023 for Community Members to submit expressions of interest for project ideas responding to the theme: Sustainability systems as tools to support implementation of effective, fair, and impactful due diligence processes.
Please note that the application window is now closed. This public overview explains the type of grants that were available, and the selection process.
The ISEAL Innovations Fund launched a call in March 2024 for Community Members to submit expressions of interest for project ideas responding to the theme: Strengthening the role of sustainability systems in addressing social issues.
Please note that the application window is now closed. This public overview explains the type of grants that were available, and the selection process.
This report summarises an assessment of a range of leading metrics that can be used to credibly measure and report on performance over time and across multiple spatial scales. The research focuses on six critical sustainability issues: deforestation, biodiversity, water use, forced labour, poverty, and Greenhouse Gas emissions.
In recent years, we’ve seen a growing interest from sustainability systems in tackling gender inequalities through their schemes. A 2022 ISEAL-CGIAR Gender Equality Initiative scoping study tried to understand how some of ISEAL's Community Members are integrating gender into their schemes. It highlighted the important role systems can play in reducing gender inequalities and improving women's empowerment.
This paper discusses how voluntary sustainability standards and certification schemes can play an important role in this smart mix, in particular in terms of supporting supply chain regulation on deforestation.
Download below the PowerPoint presentation for the Practicalities of EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) Implementation breakfast session at the ISEAL Global Sustainability Symposium 2024
Principles to Define and Communicate Sustainability Performance in the Agricultural Commodity Sector
This document directs public and private sector stakeholders on deriving sustainability information and messages from the data collected on agricultural commodities production.
This infographic provides a summary on boosting sustainability practice and performance at the landscape level, through Good Water Stewardship project.
This document summarises the learning from Rainforest Alliance's Hybrid Community-Based Monitoring pilot project. The goal of this 3-year project was to design and develop a Hybrid Community-based Monitoring System (HCMS) that combines GPS and remote sensing with on-the-ground data from the key landscape stakeholders for data management and reporting at a landscape level.
In 2013, ISEAL launched the Credibility Principles, which provide an international reference for defining the foundations of credible practices for sustainability standards. Since mid-May 2020, we are leading consultations that will expand the scope of the Credibility Principles beyond sustainability standards to a wider range of systems, such as data-based and landscape-based approaches as well as update the scope of the Credibility Principles to reflect current and future trends affecting standards and similar systems.
Since launching in 2013 after extensive global consultations, ISEAL's Credibility Principles have become an international reference for defining the foundations of credible practices for sustainability standards.
Starting mid-May 2020, we are leading consultations that will expand the scope of the Credibility Principles beyond sustainability standards to include a wider range of systems, such as data-driven and landscape approaches. We are also updating content to reflect current and future trends affecting standards and similar systems.
The ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems (‘the ISEAL Code’) provides a globally recognised framework that outlines the core components of a credible sustainability system and how they fit together. More than 200 people attended the launch webinar, including representatives from sustainability systems, NGOs, businesses, government, consultants and researchers.
Experts from ISEAL, and ISEAL members discuss what our research is telling us about the reach, contribution and impacts of standards on smallholder farmers and what this means for future innovations and partnerships.
We believe that the credibility of market-based sustainability tools is more important than ever for trade and public policy. But what do we mean by credibility? And what trends and issues are shaping our understanding of credibility going forward?
In 2013, ISEAL launched the Credibility Principles, which provide an international reference for defining the foundations of credible practices for sustainability standards. Over the last decade there has also been increasing interest and research into specific principles such as transparency, accessibility and how system credibility is an important factor influencing impacts.
The paper provides insights on growth trends and geographic presence of seven ISEAL member schemes that are leading global agricultural standards across seven commodities. We focus on trends and presence in producing and exporting countries where these schemes are adopted, with a specific interest in presence in low and lower-income classified countries.
This short paper provides high-level summaries of BetterCoal, IRMA and TSM and outlines under which circumstances ResponsibleSteel will recognise mine sites participating in the programmes.
ResponsibleSteel has assessed Bettercoal, IRMA and TSM against a defined recognition benchmark as laid out in the ‘Recognition assessment tool’. The recognition assessments served to determine whether the programmes meet our benchmark and could thus be recognised.
This paper provides high-level summaries of the three programmes and outlines under which circumstances ResponsibleSteel will recognise mine sites participating in the programmes
This document describes ResponsibleSteel’s methodology for the recognition of input material programmes. It is underpinned by a series of Excel templates, the ‘ResponsibleSteel Recognition Assessment Tool’, that serve to implement the methodology.
Remediation is a fundamental principle of international human rights. In 2022 and 2023, ISEAL ran a dialogue series with ISEAL members, supported by the UN OHCHR Accountability and Remedy Project, to build awareness on key remediation concepts and activities, take stock of existing efforts on remediation, identify cross-cutting challenges, and inspire further action on remediation.