Voluntary sustainability standards have grown rapidly in number and importance in global commodity markets over the past decade.
The growth of voluntary sustainability standards has occurred in parallel with growing recognition of the importance of economic drivers in implementing sustainable development, as evidenced by the global call for a green economy.
The State of Sustainability Initiatives Review 2014 reports on systems and market trends across 16 of the most important standards initiatives operating across 10 key commodity sectors. Initiatives covered in this report account for an estimated $31.6 billion in trade value, pointing toward their growing importance in defining terms of trade and opportunities for development across the commodity-producing world.