Glossary - Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber

Glossary of Terms

The Glossary serves as a comprehensive reference for standardised terminology and concepts in sustainable natural rubber.

wdt_ID	Term	Definition
1	Agricultural use	Use of land for the purpose of agriculture, including for agricultural plantations and set aside agricultural areas, and for rearing livestock.**
2	Applicable legislation	Local, national and international laws in the country of production concerning the legal status of the area of production. This includes: (a) land use rights; (b) environmental protection; (c) forest-related rules, including forest management and biodiversity conservation, where directly related to wood harvesting; (d) third parties’ rights; (e) labour rights; (f) human rights protected under international law; (g) the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), including as set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; (h) tax, anti-corruption, trade and customs regulations**
3	Area of assessment	Any geographic area being evaluated as part of risk assessment. This may be the country, province, village or other level.
4	Assurance Model	The set of GPSNR procedures, standards and guidance which together provides demonstrable evidence that Policy Framework requirements relating are fulfilled.*
5	C-suite	A company’s executive-level management often including chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO).
6	Child Labour	Work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for elimination. Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive**
7	Conversion	Change of a natural ecosystem to another land use or profound change in a natural ecosystem’s species composition, structure, or function in accordance with the HCVRN/HCSA rule base. •Deforestation is one form of conversion (conversion of natural forests). •Conversion includes severe degradation or the introduction of management practices that result in substantial and sustained change in the ecosystem’s former species composition, structure, or function. •Change to natural ecosystems that meets this definition is considered to be conversion regardless of whether or not it is legal**
8	Customary use right	Traditional common rule or practice that has become an intrinsic part of the accepted and expected conduct in a community, profession, or trade and is treated as a legal requirement.**
9	Cut-off Date	(Related to no-deforestation and no-conversion commitments): The date after which deforestation or conversion renders a given area or production unit non-compliant with no-deforestation or no-conversion commitments, respectively. As per GPSNR Policy Framework Cut-off date is 1 April 2019.**
10	Decent living wage	The remuneration received for a standard work-week by a worker in a particular place, sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and her or his family. Elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transport, clothing and other essential needs, including provision for unexpected events.**
11	Deforestation	Loss of natural forest as a result of: i) conversion to agriculture or other non-forest land use; ii) conversion to a tree plantation; or iii) severe and sustained degradation. • This definition pertains to no-deforestation supply chain commitments, which generally focus on preventing the conversion of natural forests (primary forests and HCV/ HCS areas). • Severe degradation (scenario iii in the definition) constitutes deforestation even if the land is not subsequently used for a non-forest land use. • Loss of natural forest that meets this definition is considered to be deforestation regardless of whether or not it is legal. • The Accountability Framework’s definition of deforestation signifies “gross deforestation” of natural forest where “gross” is used in the sense of “total; aggregate; without deduction for reforestation or other offset.”**
12	Deforestation-free	Products containing rubber that has been produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation after 1st April 2019.*
13	Due diligence (DD)	In the context of the GPSNR Assurance Model, due diligence is considered to define the actions taken by an Organisations to reduce the risk of sourcing products containing unsustainable natural rubber. A general definition of the term is “the care that a reasonable person exercises to avoid harm to other persons or their property”.
14	Due Diligence System (DDS)	A set of steps or actions taken to ensure that due diligence is exercised. The due diligence system may consist of written guidelines and procedures that describe the due diligence process in detail.**
15	Forced Labour	All work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily.**
16	Forced Labour Indicators	The indicators are derived from theoretical and practical experience of the ILO’s Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL). They are based upon the definition of forced labour specified in the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). These indicators are; abuse of vulnerability, deception, restriction of movement, isolation, physical and sexual violence, intimidation and threats, retention of identity documents, withholding of wages, debt bondage, abusive working and living conditions, excessive overtime.**
17	Forest Degradation	Changes within a natural ecosystem that significantly and negatively affect its species composition, structure, and/or function and reduce the ecosystem’s capacity to supply products, support biodiversity, and/or deliver ecosystem services. Degradation may be considered conversion if it: • is large-scale and progressive or enduring. • alters ecosystem composition, structure, and function to the extent that regeneration to a previous state is unlikely; or • leads to a change in land use (e.g., to agriculture or other use that is not a natural forest or other natural ecosystem).**
18	Freedom of association	The right for workers and employers to establish and join organisations of their own choosing without previous authorization.**
20	Geolocation	means the geographical location of a plot of land described by means of latitude and longitude coordinates, using at least six decimal digits; this shall be provided using polygons with sufficient latitude and longitude points to describe the perimeter of each plot of land.**
21	Good Faith	Good faith means employers, workers and unions are not allowed to do anything that misleads or deceives one another. Both employers and trade unions bargain in good faith and make every effort to reach an agreement; moreover, genuine and constructive negotiations are a necessary component to establish and maintain a relationship of confidence between the parties. The principle that both employers and trade unions should negotiate in good faith and make efforts to reach an agreement means that any unjustified delay in the holding of negotiations should be avoided. The act of postponing or arranging negotiation meetings unilaterally at the last minute and without prior warning, if it occurs without good reason, is a practice that is harmful to the development of normal and healthy labour relations.**
22	Hazardous Work	Work that endangers the young worker's health, safety, or morals. Hazardous work includes work that exposes children to physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; work underground, under water, at dangerous heights, or in confined spaces, work with dangerous machinery, equipment, and tools or which involves the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work in an unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels or vibrations damaging to their health; work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours or during the night or work where child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer**"
24	High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach	The High Carbon Stock (HCS) Approach is a methodology that distinguishes forest areas for protection from degraded lands with low carbon and biodiversity values that may be developed. The methodology was developed with the aim to ensure a practical, transparent, robust, and scientifically credible approach that is widely accepted to implement commitments to halt deforestation in the tropics, while ensuring the rights and livelihoods of local peoples are respected.**
25	High Conservation Value (HCV) management area	HCV Management Areas are areas in a site, management unit or landscape for which appropriate management decisions must be taken and implemented in order to maintain or enhance an HCV.**
26	High Conservation Values (HCVs)	An HCV is a biological, ecological, social or cultural value of outstanding significance or critical importance, as defined by Common Guidance for Identification of HCVs.
28	Landscape program	A programme implemented at landscape-level, respecting natural boundaries, such as a watershed, an ecosystem or an area with a particular land cover. A landscape program may exist across jurisdictional boundaries (for example covering multiple countries, states or provinces).**
	Term	Definition

*GPSNR definition
**Click for link to source

Last updated: 13/9/24