The assurance model taskforce, which sits under the umbrella of this working group, worked on establishing KPIs, GPSNR and Company targets, and tasking the KPIs to other working groups, categories and members. Its other subgroup on risk is currently working on a proposal for the definition of polygons in the EU Deforestation Regulation based on a request from GPSNR member ETRMA.
Smallholder Representation Working Group
After completing its first round of pilot agroforestry workshops in Indonesia, the working group has its next round planned in Cambodia at the end of October 2022. Subsequently, they are preparing for country-based focus group discussions on the Smallholders Policy Equivalent and for the GPSNR-HCSA Smallholder Toolkit Field Trials.
Policy Toolbox Working Group
The group is working on finalizing the TORs for the Year 1 Reporting Review to be conducted in the first quarter of next year. They are also assessing if any changes to reporting framework and its details (i.e. process, extensions, questions) are needed based on the Year 1 Reporting Review results.
Capacity Building Working Group
The group is currently evaluating proposals to appoint a software developer for the second phase of the GPSNR Knowledge Sharing Platform. They will also soon be kicking off the Disease Fighting Project with SNV-IRRI in Indonesia, after having recently completed the first milestone of the SNV-Proforest GAP coaching in the country. They continue to seek members’ funding for capacity building projects in Indonesia (second stream of disease fighting) and Cote d’Ivoire (training centres). To know more, you can find the project details here.
Shared Responsibility Working Group
The group is working on the deliverables discussed for each of its sub working groups during the in-person meetings, and will present findings to the membership on 15th November 2022.
The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) affirms the commitment of its membership toward deforestation-free natural rubber supply chains and acknowledges the importance of engaging with regulators to support its ambitions. In considering how to address the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the EU market, we urge EU regulators to continue to engage with the rubber and tyre sector to ensure that the due diligence requirements ultimately deliver social and environmental benefits, including eliminating deforestation from rubber supply chains and improving smallholder livelihoods. Adopting a risk-based approach at jurisdictional or landscape level with mitigation and impact driven capacity building actions would promote inclusive and scalable progress in the smallholder context, whilst effectively addressing the goal of preventing products derived from deforestation caused by natural rubber from being placed on EU markets.
In this respect, GPSNR believes that any regulation addressing deforestation in the natural rubber supply chain, including the present proposal, must align with the following factors to be transformative:
• Sustainable natural rubber must promote equity for smallholders. Smallholders represent 85% of natural rubber production globally. The design of any regulation relating to natural rubber must consider and mitigate any potential negative impacts on smallholder farmers while aiming to improve the livelihoods of farmers who adopt sustainable practices.
• Considering the complexity of the natural rubber supply chain, a risk-based approach that has jurisdictional traceability as its foundation offers a practical and effective approach to addressing deforestation. While advances in traceability are being made in the natural rubber sector, it is currently infeasible to conduct farm-to-factory tracing in all cases. A risk-based approach would include requiring some farm-to-factory tracing where risk is non-negligible, but not in every natural rubber supply chain.
• Capacity building to promote sustainable practices, for smallholders and plantations alike, is an essential tool to curb deforestation in the natural rubber supply chain, so any regulation should prioritize funding to enhance capacity building.
An important milestone of the month has been the recruitment of the Assurance Model taskforce, which will be working through the September 2022 hybrid meetings to finalise the design of the GPSNR Assurance Model. Additionally, the risk subgroup is looking for a consultant to review and revise the current Risk Analysis document. Should you know anyone fit for the job, the RFP is available here.
Smallholder Representation Working Group
In August 2022, the smallholder representation working group organised an onboarding workshop for 24 smallholders in Malaysia.. They are now preparing for the first round of focus group discussions on the smallholder policy equivalent, and will continue preparing for GPSNR-HCSA Smallholder Toolkit Field Trials as well as the Pilot Agroforestry Workshops in Indonesia and Cambodia.
Policy Toolbox Working Group
This working group has developed and finalise the template for upstream questionnaires to support the reporting of Manufacturers and End Users. They are working to finalise language for 7.1 and 7.2 of the Implementation Guidance, and to finalise the Compliance Panel Guidance. On the Reporting, the WG is preparing the ground for Year 1 Reporting Review and developing the Transparent Reporting Roadmap for Years 2 and 3. They will also liaise with the smallholder representation working group on the smallholder policy equivalent as it continues to develop.
Capacity Building Working Group
This working group has released an RFP for the development of the Knowledge Sharing Platform digital application, while also completing a report by the Knowledge Sharing Platform Task Force on digital needs assessment for smallholders. . They are also busy in continuing to advance Capacity Building plans for Indonesia, Thailand, Ivory Coast, having advanced substantially on disease fighting and GAP coaching in Indonesia.
Shared Responsibility Working Group
The working group has completed call for volunteers for different pillars: Shared Investment; Value Transfer and Target Setting; Knowledge and Data Sharing. They will be creating subgroups for each pillar, and are calling for volunteers to co-chair each subgroup so do share your interest!
Start here for a full update on the working groups since the July 2022 General Assembly!
Strategy and Objectives Working Group
The Executive Committee (EC) approved the creation of the Assurance Model Task Force, which will look into finalizing GPSNR’s Assurance Model design by the end of this year. Members interested to join the Task Force should look out for a call-for-participation that should be sent out soon. The Risk subgroup also received feedback from the EC on its plans and will discuss the feedback while continuing to refine GPSNR’s risk-based approach.
Smallholder Representation Working Group
In July 2022, the Smallholders WG began discussions on the following developments: Smallholders Policy-equivalent Framework with HCVN; ‘Intro to Agroforestry’ pilot workshops with CIRAD and Dr Maria Wang; and HCSA Toolkit field trials with HCSA. Preparations are also being made for an onboarding workshop for smallholders in Malaysia to be held in the first week of August!
Policy Toolbox Working Group
On updates for the Policy Toolbox Working Group, the Implementation Guidance was approved by the General Assembly and the latest version of the guidance is available here. The guidance will continue to be updated regularly, starting with updates for section 7.1 and 7.2 for all categories. The Reporting Requirements process has also started and the Secretariat is processing the responses from the PPT category.
Capacity Building Working Group
The Capacity Building WG is currently reviewing proposals for the Comprehensive Disease Fighting Approach in Indonesia, and will formalize a decision in August 2022. Projects in Indonesia, Thailand and Cote d’Ivoire are also being advanced, with concrete developments expected to be shared in August.
Shared Responsibility Working Group
The working group is putting forward the plans to implement the shared responsibility framework, which was recently approved by the General Assembly.
Global Rubber Industry kickstarts a plan for equitable distribution of costs and benefits of sustainability in their supply chain
Singapore, 14 July 2022: Members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), who represent 55% of the rubber value chain, convened their annual General Assembly yesterday, where they defined and charted out a path for a concept they call shared responsibility. This concept acknowledges the lack of equity in the natural rubber supply chain and charts out a mechanism where the costs and benefits of the platform’s sustainability initiatives will be equitably distributed across all actors within the supply chain.
To this end, GPSNR members passed a resolution that binds them to a shared responsibility framework with 3 pillars – Shared Investments, Value Transfer & Target setting, and Knowledge & Data sharing – which will help share the costs and benefits across all actors in the value chain. Each stakeholder group has a different role to play to contribute to a sustainable natural rubber sector and within the three pillars. By the third quarter of 2023, each of the three pillars will be in the testing, implementation or pilot stage of their specific goals.
According to GPSNR director Stefano Savi, “Systemic change does not happen overnight. While we have been putting together pillars on the sustainability side of our vision, this is our first pillar that also requires commitment to an equitable supply chain. With this shared responsibility framework, parties from across the natural rubber value chain are agreeing to take accountability for sustainability in an equitable and fair manner. As we work to translate this to actionable outcomes, I hope more stakeholders will join us, and existing ones will be inspired to accelerate the process of changing our supply chain.’’
In addition to voting on resolutions like the shared responsibility framework, GPSNR members also voted in a guidance for implementation of the policy framework that they all abide by, which includes some stringent commitments on deforestation and human rights. They also voted on some procedural resolutions on their statutes and elected representatives to the 2022-2023 Executive Committee, which comprises representatives from each of the membership categories.
GPSNR is an international membership driven platform set up to define sustainability for the natural rubber value chain. It brings together various stakeholders to a common ground based on fairness, equity and environmental sustainability. More on sustainablenaturalrubber.org
By Febrius Wibisana, GPSNR Executive Committee Member & Co-Chair, GPSNR Smallholder Inclusion Working Group
For those who do not know me yet, my name is Febrius Wibisana and I have been a rubber smallholder in Indonesia for over 25 years. At GPSNR, I represent the smallholder category at the Executive Committee level. I am also the co-chair of the Smallholders Representation working group.
In June 2022, I was invited by the Partnership for Forests or P4F to the P4F Forum with their partners and projects from across the world. They wanted me to speak about my experience at GPSNR on smallholder inclusion in the sustainability conversation in natural rubber. The experience gave me the opportunity to put some thought into our work over the last three years – the challenges, the successes and carving the path forward.
I am writing this to share some of those reflections with my fellow GPSNR members.
Reflection 1: It is impossible to have holistic sustainability solutions in natural rubber without smallholder participation
GPSNR Impacts & Assurance Associate Si Yuan and myself at the P4F Forum in London
We live in a world where 6 million smallholder farmers produce almost 90% of the world’s natural rubber. In such a world, any conversation on change in this supply chain has to include smallholders.
In its second General Assembly in 2020, GPSNR members passed a resolution to include smallholders as a category within the membership. We started with 28 odd smallholders, including myself, engaging in conversations on sustainability, capacity building and the meaning of true inclusion and having the smallholder voice heard at various decision making levels. Today, I represent over 130 smallholders across 10 countries in the GPSNR Executive Committee.
To bring smallholders into each conversation, we work closely with country level champions and local government entities for outreach and engagement. Interpretation facilities and key documents being translated to smallholder languages are some small but significant steps we take at GPSNR to further facilitate smallholder participation.
Reflection 2: Membership does not guarantee active participation
While many of our smallholder members are actively engaged in core decision making and at the working group level, many find it difficult to do so. The digital divide, language barriers and a skewed equation of structural power could be some key reasons for this. Some smallholders simply may not have the time for it.
Yet, as we embark on transforming the entire supply chain, we need active smallholder voices to join and remain in the GPSNR fold. To this end, the smallholder representation working group has put forward a resolution with proposed changes in smallholder membership structure, where smallholders will have to participate in the General Assembly to take up ordinary membership. All others will be classified as affiliate members by default. You can take a look at the resolution here.
Reflection 3: Making a supply chain sustainable requires thorough capacity building at all levels
There are more than 2 million smallholders in Indonesia. Yet, despite being the largest producer, it has the lowest productivity in the world. This is because of diseases and poor planting materials. Many other rubber producing nations face similar problems.
If we are to make this supply chain sustainable, equitable and fair, and achieve the desired state that the GPSNR Theory of Change spells out, smallholders have to be equipped with the skills and resources. The capacity building working group has already kicked-off the first such projects in Indonesia with SNV-Proforest and Koltiva. GPSNR has also received funding pledges from Renault, Goodyear, Michelin and Pirelli for other projects, but scaling them requires more. Funding information is available here for any one in the natural rubber industry.
Capacity building will also equip smallholders to participate further in GPSNR decision making and other processes.
As we move forward, I am energised by the progress GPSNR has made so far on smallholder participation. In our attempt to move towards more active engagement, we need the support of all our members. Our ability to meet in person will further strengthen this support, and I look forward to working with all of you to transform the supply chain.
For the strategy and objectives working group, the development of the assurance model will be on priority for the next few months. To this end, they have finalised the draft terms of reference for an Assurance Model taskforce, which will be presented to the Executive Committee in their next meeting. Once approved, recruitment will begin extensively. The risk subgroup is also finalizing a document to be shared with the Executive Committee for their feedback.
Smallholder Representation Working Group
The group has submitted a resolution ahead of the July 22 General Assembly to restructure smallholder membership within GPSNR to enhance active participation. You can take a look at it in the GA Booklet here. In the next few months, they will begin planning smallholder workshops in Malaysia while also working on the smallholder policy equivalent. In case you missed it, they have also published an RFP recently to pilot agroforestry workshops for smallholders. Find it here. Preparations for a workshop for smallholders in Malaysia have also begun, which would be held in Q3 of 2022.
Policy Toolbox Working Group
In the last month, the group has finalised two major resolutions presented to the July General Assembly – one on the implementation guidance and the other on the disclosure requirements for year one reporting. Take a look here. Additionally, they have also finalised the guidance and templates for reporting for manufacturers and end users. If you are an end user or manufacturer who has not yet received the guidance and/or the templates, please write to the secretariat at info@gpsnr.org.
For the next couple of months, the working group will be busy with finalising the operational guidance for the compliance panel and will continue conversations on the transparent reporting roadmap for years 2 and 3.
Capacity Building Working Group
After the kick-off of the GAPs coaching project in Indonesia with SNV and Koltiva, the group is busy in the development of GPSNR’s knowledge sharing platform, which includes smallholder interviews, compiling and assessing responses of member surveys and holding focus group discussions. At the same time, they are working on advancing Capacity Building plans for Indonesia, Thailand and Côte d’Ivoire.
A couple of months ago, RubberWay was proud to introduce its contributions to sustainable natural rubber to members of GPSNR.
Data obtained through RubberWay contributes to helping users meet the GPSNR Reporting Requirements. A crosswalk analysis done by the RubberWay team showed that it provides 89% coverage of the 37 GPSNR Policy Components, of which 18 Policy Components are directly satisfied by RubberWay while 15 are partially contributed to.
RubberWay meets 33 out of 37 GPSNR Policy Components through direct and indirect contributions.
The webinar hosted by GPSNR gave RubberWay the chance to provide an overview of its solution from the perspective of both tire makers and processors.
The sharing by tire makers highlighted the motivations for their participation in RubberWay and the ways in which RubberWay’s results have enabled them to engage in efforts on the ground.
Similarly, natural rubber processors are able to apply data from RubberWay to implement field actions while also using the tool as a channel to facilitate communication directly with smallholders.
Users are able to utilise data generated through RubberWay to inform risk mitigation measures. RubberWay also provides its users with a channel for supplier engagement.
More detailed information on how RubberWay contributes to achieving GPSNR’s goals for sustainable natural rubber can be found in the RubberWay white paper. Access to the complete crosswalk analysis is also available upon request.
ABOUT RUBBERWAY
RubberWay is a digital risk mapping solution that helps upstream actors to detect environmental and social risks across the natural rubber supply chain. Risk data obtained through RubberWay generates actionable insights for users like tire makers and processors to drive change towards sustainability within the industry.
With over 50,000 questionnaires completed to date, the RubberWay dataset is set to increase with growing participation of users, enabling expansive reporting of sustainability risks across sourcing countries globally.
The working group has made some significant progress this month on its work around risk simply by bringing so many members together in a room! Apart from this, their priorities for the next phase have been finalised and include the assurance model, a strategy for government engagement and a risk assessment framework.
Smallholder Representation Working Group
After successful workshops in Ghana and Liberia earlier this month, the group is now focusing on reviewing the structure of smallholder membership on the Platform, and developing plans for the pilot agroforestry workshops for smallholders.
Policy Toolbox Working Group
This group is inviting members feedback on the transparent reporting roadmap, which you can take a look at here. Once feedback is incorporated into the roadmap, it will be presented to the Executive Committee as a resolution ahead of the 2022 General Assembly. They are also finalising the reporting guidance for all member categories, and developed implementation guidance for manufacturers and end user categories. Currently, their long yet important to-do also includes finalising the compliance panel operational guidance.
Capacity Building Working Group
The group has kicked off GPSNRs first capacity building project on the ground in Indonesia with Koltiva (funded by Pirelli and Goodyear), for which you can expect updates soon! As a continuation of their work from last month, they remain busy with the development of the Knowledge Sharing Platform and technical analysis of other IT platforms, and will release updates on more capacity building projects in June!
Shared Responsibility Working Group
The Shared Responsibility working group has received EC approval for the resolution on the Shared Responsibility framework! They will soon be submitting the finalised resolution, and operationalising next steps based on the framework.
After conducting a gap analysis of GPSNR’s current activities based on the platform’s Theory of Change, the strategy and objectives working group is working on a strategy to address the gaps found, which they will soon present to the Executive Committee. The gaps found include government engagement and the enhancing the enablers mentioned in the Theory of Change. You can read the Theory of Change here. At the same time, the risk sub working group continues to develop GPSNR’s approach to evaluating and mitigating risk.
Smallholder Representation Working Group
Having onboarded 23 new smallholders into the platform this month, the working group continues to build on other aspects of its scope, including planning workshops for Liberia, Ghana and Malaysia, developing country-specific smallholder engagement activities with smallholders and Country Champions and appointing a consultant to develop the smallholder policy equivalent.
Policy Toolbox Working Group
This group is continuing discussions among its three subgroups: Transparent reporting roadmap, Implementation Guidance and RR Guidance & Tools. In the coming months, they will finalise guidance for the reporting requirements and share it with members.
Capacity Building Working Group
The group is currently busy in the development of GPSNR’s knowledge sharing platform, which includes smallholder interviews, compiling and assessing responses of member surveys and holding focus group discussions in May 2022. At the same time, they are working on advancing Capacity Building plans for Indonesia, Thailand and Côte d’Ivoire. For capacity building efforts in Indonesia, the group has formed two Task Forces under the Indonesia Subgroup to advance Budwood Garden and Disease Fighting strategies.
Shared Responsibility Working Group
The Shared Responsibility has completed a draft of Shared Responsibility Framework and presented it to the membership at two member consultation webinars. In case you missed these, you can watch the recordings here. It has also opened the draft framework to member feedback till 2nd May. Take a look at the framework here and fill in your inputs here.
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