August 2023

Accelerating the green transformation: assessing progress in the oil and gas sector

In May 2023, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered a powerful message to the…

As the fossil fuel industry faces mounting pressure, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) has been monitoring the efforts of major oil and gas (O&G) producers in decarbonisation and just transition performance. The results paint a down-beat picture with significant room for improvement but also important examples of leading practices.

August 2023

Trade effects of voluntary sustainability standards in tropical commodity sectors: A nuanced story

Sustainable food production remains a key challenge in our globalized…

The trade effects of VSS remain unclear as empirical evidence is scarce, case-specific – either focusing on a single standard, a single product, and/or a single country – and biased towards business-to-business VSS and the fresh produce sector. The authors investigate how the adoption of seven VSS in five tropical commodity sectors affects the export performance of producing countries.

March 2023

Women’s economic empowerment in agriculture: What is the role of voluntary sustainability standards?

The United Nations first recognized International Women’s Day in 1977, driven by the e…

The United Nations first recognized International Women’s Day in 1977, driven by the early 1900s labor movements for better working conditions and women’s right to work. Today, with the multiple global crises putting women’s roles in the labor market in flux, attention to women’s economic empowerment (WEE) has never been more urgent.

November 2022

How market-based sustainability standards can help protect the planet

This article was first published by World Economic Forum. International trade is often overlooked as a driver of global…

October 2022

How does Fairtrade foster producers’ resilience? Learnings from the impact of COVID-19

Why study resilience using the COVID-19 pandemic? Small-scale producers around the globe…

July 2022

From commitments to action at scale: Critical steps to achieve deforestation-free supply chains

From declarations by global leaders at the COP26 climate talks to the forthcoming…

May 2022

The case for living wages

This article was originally published on the Business Fights Poverty website. Work is often lauded as the most important route out of poverty. There is little…

May 2022

Assessing and taking stock of tools to mainstream biodiversity for business

Business and nature are inextricably connected. Most businesses depend on biodiversity, either directly…

March 2022

Strong need to improve cocoa governance

In the debate on strategies for improving the position of cocoa smallholders in West Africa, several studies focus on methods of poverty reduction by looking at various…

February 2022

Multiple pathways for achieving a living income for cocoa families

75% or more cocoa farming households do not earn a living income - the income gap is 4,000 USD or more for the poorest farmers which cannot be…

December 2021

How can voluntary sustainability standards help reduce poverty amongst smallholders?

There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmer families globally, many of whom make up a large portion…

October 2021

Taking action to boost sustainable consumption in Asia: consumers, supply-chain actors, and governments can make a difference

For too long, the way we produce and consume products has unintentionally…