Capacity Building for Natural Rubber Smallholders

Why conflict is crucial for meaningful sustainability initiatives

— Aidan Mock, Impacts and Assurance Manager

Since joining the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber in July 2020, I have spent about 3,000 hours working for the organization. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the controversial idea that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something which means that I still have a long way to go. Reflecting on these two numbers at the end of last year, I started to wonder how much time it takes GPSNR as a whole to demonstrate progress. I was most curious about our brand new Reporting Requirements (RRs) which were approved at the General Assembly last year. The RRs will ensure that all GPSNR members have standardised sustainability data which can be tracked, monitored, and analysed to meet our goals on sustainability and equity. Needless to say, this is a crucial piece of work for the global rubber industry.

 In June 2021, ZSL conducted 1.5-hour long focus group calls with each stakeholder category within GPSNR on the RRs. On average a total of 72 work hours were spent on this segment alone, with 12 people attending each of the four calls (12 x 4 x 1.5). In July, the Working Group convened its first meeting to discuss the proposed RRs in detail,  resulting in another 43.5 work hours spent on the RRs. 

The truly difficult months were October and November, where members met almost daily. An average of 19 people joined each of the 22 calls, which lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes each time. In these two months, members spent a staggering 750 work hours discussing and negotiating the questions. 

By the time Reporting Requirements were sent out for General Assembly vote, GPSNR members had spent more than a thousand hours discussing the RRs at the working group level. The actual number is likely higher as I didn’t include the time spent in category-specific meetings, executive committee discussions, and meetings that ran over their intended time limit. The time taken to complete the RRs eventually amounted to a third of the time that I’ve been working at GPSNR.

Image 2: A screenshot of the tabulation on hours spent discussing the RRs

With members all across the world, these meetings meant sacrificing hundreds of hours of family dinners, early morning sleep, and mid-afternoon siestas! Yet members made the choice to show up for meetings day-after-day, demonstrating remarkable commitment to the mission of GPSNR.

From an outside perspective, one thousand work hours of meetings were needed to create 100 questions, which means we had a progress rate of 10 work hours per question! Sceptics of GPSNR would be quick to point out this “slow progress”, and I will admit that there are faster ways to formulate a hundred questions. However, if you want to get more than 100 members across different stakeholder categories to agree on reporting questions for the entire industry, this is the fastest that it can go. I observed something similar at a grand scale at the COP 26 negotiations in Glasgow in October. Parties spent hours discussing the choice of wording in key phrases and some even used valuable time to simply express disagreement with the text. 

If we are to achieve multi-stakeholder progress, we must adopt the same philosophy and spend time listening to the concerns and disagreements of all parties before we collaboratively develop  solutions to address these concerns. This process of listening to each other and finding solutions will take time, maybe even a thousand hours, but this is the fastest and most thorough way to do it while still honouring the multi-stakeholder principles of the platform.

One of our greatest strengths at GPSNR is that members can disagree with each other openly. I believe that disagreement and healthy negotiation is a sign of a diverse membership that trusts each other to listen and address their concerns. Being able to work towards solutions across “category lines” is also a sign that GPSNR is maturing as we approach our 10,000 work hours of collective practice. I hope we can carry forward this momentum and growth into the new year. I hope we continue to treat the disagreements that will inevitably arise as opportunities to listen, demonstrate empathy, and build trust. I hope we come to see the multi-stakeholder enterprise as one that is conflicting by design and slow by default.

This year, we will work to define the Implementation Guidance and the Transparency Roadmap for the reporting requirements and I expect these topics to involve extensive discussions and quite possibly extensive disagreement. For members already part of this work, I look forward to speaking with you on our calls. If you are not yet part of these discussions but feel  excited by the idea , feel free to write to us and we will ensure that you are included in the meetings that are soon to follow.

See you on a Zoom call soon!

GPSNR’s second General Assembly was opened by Director Stefano Savi, who wished everyone a warm welcome to the virtual event. 

Next on the agenda was a message from Dr Gerd Müller, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development. The message was delivered via video by Sebastian Lesch, Head of Unit – International Agricultural Policy, Agriculture, Innovation, from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In his message, Dr Müller underscored BMZ’s support for GPSNR as a member and donor. He also urged all links in the natural rubber supply chain to continue to work towards comprehensive sustainability. 

Stefano also took the opportunity to acknowledge and thank BMZ and other donor partners such as Partnerships for Forests (P4F), a UK aid funded program, for their continued support, as well as WBCSD and the Tire Industry Project for their support in the Platform’s launch phase.

The opening remarks were delivered by Segsarn Trai-Ukos, Chair of the GPSNR Executive Committee. In his remarks, Segsarn summarized the achievements of the Platform over the past 18 months, recognising the dedication and effort put in by members of the Working Groups and the Executive Committee despite the global pandemic. “We have accomplished much in our first 18 months, and I’m excited to see our continued progress as we move forward.” he concluded.

After the opening remarks, Stefano gave a Secretariat Update, showing how GPSNR has grown since the first General Assembly. Membership has almost tripled, and engagement remains high. On the Communications front, GPSNR maintains a global outreach with its website, and has seen an increase in social media followers, along with mentions and features by numerous media outlets. Stefano also touched upon GPSNR’s financial status, which he described as healthy. 

The various Co-Chairs of the respective Working Groups then proceeded to give a brief update on what they have achieved so far, as well as the next steps. For a more detailed look at what comes next for our Working Groups, check out the article ‘The Road Ahead for GPSNR’s Working Groups’.

And finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for – the results of the voting. 

The verdict for each resolution was revealed one at a time, with the number of votes for, against and abstained, displayed for each resolution. All proposed resolutions were passed with overwhelming majorities.

Up next to be revealed were the results of the Executive Committee elections. These were announced by category, with the elected representatives giving a short speech after being introduced. For a look at GPSNR’s second Executive Committee, check out our article ‘A First Look at GPSNR’s second Executive Committee’.

Lastly, Co-Chair of the GPSNR Executive Committee, Amy Smith, delivered some heartfelt words as part of her closing remarks. “We all have the responsibility to drive sustainability in the global marketplace because our forests, wildlife, climate, communities and businesses depend on it,” she said. “And GPSNR has the ability to effect that transformational change.”