AgUnity’s Post

Today the European Parliament voted in favor of a landmark piece of legislation that will make it mandatory for large companies in the EU to address impacts on #humanrights and the environment in their operations and #supplychains. This law will put #livingincome, #livingwages and responsible #purchasingpractices on the agenda of all large corporations. A key improvement is the demand that disengagement from suppliers under the law should only happen as a last resort and in a responsible manner, helping to prevent a cut-and-run approach by large companies looking to comply with the #CSDDD. This should be used to stimulate real engagement with #smallholder producers at the start of these chains in their journey towards better livelihoods and balance with nature. It’s important to celebrate the achievement and to clarify accompanying measures to make implementation possible and impactful. To support the next stages the Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), Fairtrade International, Rainforest Alliance & Solidaridad published a paper on information and (financial) support for smallholder producers around the world. Learn more about how the EU, and its Member States can support producers, countries and even companies in making the CSDDD truly inclusive and effective: https://loom.ly/-TKRtBA

The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (#CSDDD) is a major step forward for #sustainability and #humanrights in global #valuechains. To drive its effectiveness, the CSDDD will need to be supplemented with accompanying measures. The EU, governments in and outside Europe, companies and local stakeholders all need to play their role in making due diligence inclusive and effective. They can create platforms, provide the needed tools and build lasting partnerships in order to empower all value chain actors to participate in and benefit from due diligence. This is no small task, and that is why Solidaridad, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) and Fairtrade International have developed this paper to offer advice to those developing such accompanying measures. We offer concrete suggestions on the steps that need to be taken by civil society, the corporate world and the governments in Europe and in producing countries. Small suppliers and smallholder farmers at the start of the supply chain cannot shoulder the burden of transforming the supply chain on their own. We all need to act to ensure that the CSDDD delivers on its vision: sustainable and inclusive value chains. Read our full list of recommendations here: https://lnkd.in/dgsvGw_q

Truth be told, everyone I’ve spoken to ‘off the record’ has said achieving EUDR compliance feels nigh on impossible to do, in the timing that’s been given. But the EUDR is too important to water down (let’s not set the bar any lower, we’re trying to prevent deforestation after all). And similarly, we really can’t postpone or delay it taking effect (once more, we’re trying to prevent deforestation, yes?) So, here instead is an eminently sensible suggestion from Solidaridad Network around using a phased approach, this will allow the law to maintain its high integrity and have the best chance at achieving the lofty long term impacts, but in the short term will allow companies to transition into full compliance. As with all sustainability challenges, it’s not as simple as flipping a switch, I’m grateful for the nuanced approach described here, have a read and let me know your thoughts. #EUDR #deforestation https://lnkd.in/gDMxhfH6

The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (#CSDDD) is a major step forward for #sustainability and #humanrights in global #valuechains 🌏👫 ➡ To drive its effectiveness, the CSDDD will need to be supplemented with accompanying measures. The #EU, governments in and outside Europe, companies and local stakeholders all need to play their role in making #DueDiligence inclusive and effective. They can create platforms, provide the needed tools and build lasting partnerships in order to empower all value chain actors to participate in and benefit from due diligence. This is no small task. That is why #FTAO, together with Solidaridad Network, Rainforest Alliance, and Fairtrade International, and in close cooperation with producer organisations and their representative organisations, developed this paper to call on the European Commission, EU delegations and EU Member States to design and implement support measures to ensure that the CSDDD delivers on its vision: sustainable and inclusive value chains 🌱 👉 Read our full list of recommendations here: https://lnkd.in/eTFpEPAE Qazal Jamali Christian David Ried Thomas Grupp Anne Kullman

Many companies lobby against stricter regulations. Some companies do the opposite. 😄 Ecosia, Natura, Oatly, Patagonia, Tony's Chocolonely, and Triodos Bank have written to the European Commission's president, Ms. Ursula von der Leyen, urging her to uphold and strengthen the EU’s ambitions in supporting responsible businesses and achieving our collective environmental and social targets. 🟢 Ambitious regulation frameworks 🟢 A European green industrial deal with circularity at its heart 🟢 Effective implementation of the Environmental Crime Directive 🟢 Promotion of sustainable food systems 🟢 Strengthening Corporate Due Diligence and addressing forced labour As we have seen in recent months, many companies have reaffirmed their pledges and intentions to engage in more sustainable behaviour (see, for instance, this Financial Times article: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eSz5d6rF). There is a reason for that: it is more profitable not to do the 'good' thing. Therefore, we need regulation (and, of course, some ethical discussions with companies). 🗨️ "𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎’𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚝. 𝚃𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚊𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎." See the letter here 👇 https://lnkd.in/ezdnZMT2

Effective regulation drives businesses to prioritize long-term environmental goals and their dependence on natural capital over short-term profits. It helps shift the dial on how the market incentivises and enables damage to our climate and environment. From the most sustainably minded companies to those just beginning their sustainability journeys, advancing business sustainability practices will always face significant challenges if the market continues to undermine these efforts. This is where robust regulation steps in—it’s not just about compliance; it’s about empowering companies to thrive sustainably and transparently within our planetary boundaries, to understand the impact of what and how we produce, and to transform accordingly. At LandGriffon, we help turn regulatory demands into actionable strategies. Our service enables businesses to measure, analyze, and develop solutions for their environmental impacts, focusing on critical areas such as deforestation, carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, and water use. By aligning with standards like the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the EUDR, we equip companies to set and achieve science-based targets for nature in line with Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) and Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). We have the science. We have the data. We have the capabilities. We need the political will to ensure the much-needed, urgent action.

📣 Today marks a significant milestone as the European Parliament has passed the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (#CSDDD) with 374 votes in favour! This is an important validation of a long-standing civil society call for business accountability on environmental and human rights in their operations and governance. We celebrate our colleagues across various organisations who have advocated for and gathered the impact evidence needed to support rapporteur Lara Wolters' directive – what a journey it has been! Despite setbacks and concessions, the Fairfood team is thrilled to see principles we have long advocated for coming to fruition. These include: ✅ Living income recognised as a human right ✅ Clearer guidelines on company purchasing practices ✅ Measures to prevent cut-and-run approaches ✅ Emphasis on meaningful stakeholder engagement in due diligence To understand how these principles translate into practice, check out this document put together by Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) Solidaridad Network: https://lnkd.in/eA6n8ZKF While some concessions were necessary, such as excluding downstream activities and the reduced scope, we see this as just the beginning of important commitments to more sustainable international trade. Alongside yesterday’s adoption of the Forced Labour Regulation, this achievement highlights the collective efforts of lawmakers, civil society, businesses, academia, and trade unions. This marks the final step of the long-awaited directive before its formal adoption, expected in May. As MEP Heidi Hautala rightly says, today we celebrate, and tomorrow we continue our mission to make a difference!    #BusinessAccountability

Are you Fairtrade International & The Fairtrade Foundation going to rise the cacao / cocoa minimum price to a sustainable one? One that does reflect the real situation of cacao farmers now? If not tell us why not? Especially now that the international cacao price is so much higher? Or are you going to keep it low and play again to the hands of multinationals like Nestlé, Mars and so many more, like in past, to get more on licence fees? There is no excuse to not level up the minimum price NOW and have something that safeguard the livelihoods of cacao producers for the future when this high prices fall. Nothing below US$6500 / MT would be a real reflection of their reality and would not be a a tool to lift farmers from poverty. Your actual minimum price is a laughing stock and a tragedy at the same time! After 30 years of the mark poverty still prevails between the farmers and shareholders, CEO's of multinationals have gone richer by exploiting the low prices. Why have you bee so slow or against recognising that there flaws to be corrected to take a real stand for a fair trading field for the farmers and communities? Why in this celebration of 30 years have you not a proper self reflection and listen to honest critics that want the best for farmers and that have seen what doesn't work. Why has not been any announcement of a real transformation of the way your work so it can be a real game changer for the future. Now looks more like a mark that has many of the colonial attitude from the rich nations rather than a revolutionary model from the groups at the bottom of the supply chain, that would allow to eradicate poverty between them. #cacao #cocoa #FairTrade #prices #poverty #farmers #multinationals #chocolate #minimumprice #sustaianble #

🎉 With the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (#CSDDD) now published and soon to be in force, join us in celebrating major wins for smallholder farmers worldwide that the Rainforest Alliance, alongside our partners Solidaridad Network, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), and Fairtrade International, have pushed for: ✅ Recognizing living income as a human right in companies' due diligence ✅ Mandating companies to address unsustainable purchasing practices ✅ Ensuring meaningful stakeholder engagement at all stages of due diligence ✅ Promoting responsible disengagement of companies as a last resort This is only the beginning, and a huge amount of work is awaiting us to implement the CSDDD. We will continue supporting the European Commission and all interested stakeholders for the development of guidance and relevant initiatives. To help smallholder farmers and small-scale miners navigate the complexities of human rights due diligence (#HRDD), we're proud to launch our new HRDD e-course and toolkit! 👉 https://bit.ly/3W4ywvo Specifically developed for farm groups and mining associations in EU partner countries, the toolkit is free and accessible to all—certified or not. Please share it widely and let's make HRDD the norm in value chains! 🙌 #RainforestAlliance #HumanRights #DueDiligence #EU #LivingIncome #PurchasingPractices #Smallholders #EuropeanCommission #Sustainability

✊ Farmers and agricultural workers are at the front line of many sustainability issues – the future of food, biodiversity, climate change, tackling deforestation, and protecting human rights. Strong producer organisations are a MUST when tackling these global challenges and advocating for change. We recently wrapped up a five-year grant from the European Commission that focused on building the capacity of Fairtrade producers to tackle these issues within their organisations, and to advocate for trade policies that are fairer for farmers and workers. 📢 Areas included: 1. Stronger and more inclusive governance 2. Young Fairtrade farmers being more active and connected than ever 3. Producers taking the lead in advocacy 4. New resources bringing attention to human rights The grant was part of the EC’s Framework Partnership Agreement targeting progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals – in this case, especially SDGs 2 (zero hunger) and SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth). Read more: https://lnkd.in/dcTK_7JM