Launching the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber

Natural rubber is a crucial element of tire production and one reason Tire Industry Project (TIP) members want to ensure the sustainable production and supply of natural rubber.

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Sustainable natural rubber, a Tire Industry Project priority

This, of course, means looking after the people, communities and natural resources touched by natural rubber production and supply – which all stand to benefit from the creation and adoption of sustainable practices and businesses.

TIP leading change

The tire industry consumes around 70 percent of natural rubber in the world and demand for natural rubber is growing, which throws into sharp relief the various social, economic and environmental opportunities associated with the production of this important commodity.

Together with other stakeholders, TIP members are working to transform the natural rubber supply chain for the better in developing the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) – an independent platform to lead improvements in the socio-economic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain.

An ambitious and wide-reaching set of priorities

Twelve months of stakeholder collaboration have resulted in development of an ambitious, wide-reaching, common set of priorities for the natural rubber supply chain. The GPSNR will work to harmonize standards to improve respect for human rights, prevent land-grabbing, protect biodiversity and water resources, improve yields, and increase supply chain transparency and traceability.

Mainstreaming for meaningful change

A review of comparable supply chain sustainability initiatives revealed that the mainstreaming of good practices is linked to the delivery of meaningful change at the global level. This is something that requires actionable commitment from the entire supply chain, and numerous different stakeholder groups have important roles to play. In the case of natural rubber, this includes tire manufacturers and other natural rubber-using industries (such as those producing rubber gloves, condoms and other engineered products), natural rubber suppliers and processors, representatives of individual smallholder producers, vehicle manufacturers, and non-governmental organizations.

Binding commitments

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; it is in the interest of the entire supply chain to ensure sustainable standards are met and maintained. The GPSNR will have clear membership criteria and supply chain standards that members must commit to maintain effective involvement. Members of the GPSNR will undertake binding commitments, and the GPSNR will constructively address failures to honor those commitments and act decisively in the event of noncompliance with remedial measures.

Industry backed, collaboratively driven

TIP has spearheaded development of the GPSNR and will provide initial support for the platform during its first two years of start-up and operation. This necessary level of support ensures basic operations during the establishment of a paying membership base. From launch, the platform will be independently managed with governance and decision making overseen by a representative group of stakeholders.

TIP has employed a truly collaborative effort to ready the GPSNR for launch, and that spirit of collaboration will define the actions of the platform going forward. TIP is confident that the diverse interests, experiences, areas of expertise, and motivations represented within the GPSNR will combine to deliver a successful, sustainable natural rubber supply chain.

Join the platform

If you are a natural rubber stakeholder and would like to learn more about the GPSNR and membership opportunities, please contact stefano.savi@gpsnr.org

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News

Continuing the Conversation with GPSNR Topic Talks – The Sumatran Rubber Pilot

The GPSNR Topic Talks webinar series is organised by the GPSNR Secretariat and presented by GPSNR members. The webinars cover several themes around sustainability and the global natural rubber supply chain.

The Topic Talks series continued on the 17th of March with Dr. Michael Steuwe from WWF US and Gerald Tan from HeveaConnect presenting on the Sumatran Rubber Pilot.

The Sumatran Rubber Pilot (SRP) is a voluntary, self-financed collaboration of rubber supply chain players and technical experts interested to facilitate the production and trade of transparent and sustainable natural rubber. The participating processing mills, tire makers, civil society organisations, technology providers and financial institutions have three major objectives:

  • Demonstrate how rubber’s downstream can work together to make its upstream more sustainable.
  • Identify, test, evaluate, and report on what it takes to achieve, and how to pay for transparent sustainable natural rubber supply chains.
  • Develop “Proof of Concept” approaches from and for GPSNR discussions on policy requirements and implementation, transparency and traceability, capacity building, and shared responsibility.

Within a few months of the project launch in July 2020, SRP’s four rubber processing factories, managed by the Halcyon Agri and ITOCHU groups, had traced up to 1 year of rubber supplies to the village and/or sub-district of origin based on self-declarations by their supplying dealers. These approximate origins of the rubber sources were filtered through WWF Indonesia’s new environmental risk assessment and management tool which identifies High Conservation Value Areas and High Carbon Stock Forest for the whole island of Sumatra. The results allow processors and their respective downstream supply chains to focus their sustainability work with farmers on priority areas.

The SRP partners are enhancing dealer self-declarations with digital apps such as CropIn and Hamurni to assess farms’ potential environmental, social, equity, labour and legal issues accurately and to address them.

As GPSNR adopts principles and criteria for what constitutes transparent and sustainable rubber, the risk assessment algorithms will be adapted to flag compliant rubber accordingly. This is increasingly important for rubber’s downstream as companies’ Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) impacts are becoming key evaluation criteria for investors and financiers who will demand the disclosure of the relevant information. In a parallel development, new supply chain laws will require major companies like the world’s car and tire makers to be responsible for the environmental and social impacts of their supply chains. The collection and analysis of detailed data on upstream supply chains will have to become an essential part of doing business and SRP partners are working to respond appropriately to these changes.

While continuing to focus on increasing the resolution of tracing rubber to its origin and collecting the respective data, SRP will now begin finding ways to best address the social, equity, labour, and legal issues that may have come up in supply chain assessments. 

The SRP is a voluntary, open and flexible platform of like minded partners interested in testing a diversity of approaches to achieve supply chain transparency and sustainability, and welcomes interested rubber supply chain actors to reach out and discuss how they might join the collaboration. GPSNR members interested in participating in the SRP should reach out to the GPSNR Secretariat to get involved in the project.

GPSNR Staff March 30, 2021
Members

GPSNR Working Groups Update: December 2020 (Members Version)

GPSNR Members Webinar: Recording and Slide Deck

GPSNR members who missed the Executive Committee and Working Groups Update webinar that was held on 2 December can view the recording of the webinar or download the slide deck for reference.

View webinar recording or download slide deck

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Working Group has received several bids in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a study on environmental impacts, and risks, in the natural rubber value chain that was published in November. The Working Group has shortlisted three candidates and, as part of the evaluation process, will be conducting with these candidates in January 2021 before awarding the bid to the successful candidate. 

The Working Group is also starting on the Theory of Change document update, an exercise which will involve all other Working Groups. This will take place in January 2021. The Equity sub-Group is preparing summary documents for the living income studies and is planning to present the studies to GPSNR members in early 2021.

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The Working Group has finalized the Baseline Reporting Requirements and these will go to the Executive Committee for review. The Working Group is also developing a Request for Proposal for a consultant to work on the implementation guidance and reporting requirements.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

Since the last update, the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Task Force has had their first kickoff call and is beginning the work to identify and/or refine guiding principles for GAPs appropriate for the sustainable production of natural rubber.

The Working Group is also engaging the Executive Committee on their comments regarding the proposed capacity building strategies for four focus countries.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

In early December, the Working Group onboarded smallholders from Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire into the group, with the smallholders participating in their first meeting on 10 December. 

Aside from reviewing the Working Group’s Terms of Reference (ToR) and its objectives moving forward, the Working Group will also be starting to develop recommendations for members on traceability and transparency tools in early 2021.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

The revised ToR for the Working Group is undergoing a final review, following which it will be sent to the Executive Committee for approval. 

The Working Group has also formalised a document that defines the role and key tasks of a Country Champion. So far, Country Champions have been actively involved in organizing and arranging national calls, supporting smallholder engagement, and providing technical and linguistic assistance.   

As part of the Working Group’s revamp, it will be undergoing a membership refresh. Part of this will also involve smallholders being onboarded into the Working Group in 2021.  The Working Group is also looking into onboarding smallholders from Cambodia. Any GPSNR members who have operations in Cambodia or partners working in Cambodia who can help to identify potential smallholders for an onboarding workshop are welcome to reach out to the Working Group’s Co-Chairs, Ulrich Antoni and Julian Oram.

GPSNR Staff December 30, 2020

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