GPSNR Working Groups Update: May 2022

The Member Consultation period for the proposed GPSNR Policy Components and Baseline Reporting Requirements closed on 3 July 2020. All comments received as part of the consultation exercise were discussed by the Policy Toolbox Working Group over several rounds of calls. There has also been healthy dialogue between various membership categories and the Working Group on the alignment of the Policy Components. 

Meanwhile, pilot testing for the Baseline Reporting Requirements is in progress, with 10 GPSNR member volunteers participating in the exercise. The Secretariat will be interviewing each of the volunteers in the coming weeks to gather feedback on their experience in submitting the Baseline Reporting Requirements data. More updates will be shared in due course.

At this stage, finalized versions of the Policy Components and related documents have been submitted by the Policy Toolbox Working Group to the Executive Committee for review and further discussion at the Executive Committee level. The Policy Components will then be brought to the GPSNR General Assembly for voting.

The formulation of Policy Components is a critical piece in fulfilling GPSNR’s vision of a fair, equitable and environmentally sound natural rubber value chain. 

All GPSNR members, at the time of joining the Platform, committed to this very vision, as well as 12 principles of sustainable natural rubber as defined by GPSNR. The Policy Components were developed to provide more specificity to the 12 Sustainable Natural Rubber Principles. Within the proposed Policy Components are key commitment details to no deforestation/ conversion/ degradation, upholding human rights, supply chain transparency and monitoring and reporting. 

If approved, the Policy Components will act as a clear and guiding framework for GPSNR company members to establish or update supply chain commitments through their natural rubber purchasing policies. 

Adopting a policy allows a company to signal that the issues covered by the policy are important to the company, and that resources and capacities will be dedicated to addressing the issues in order to comply with the policy. Policies, while illuminating the goals that a company is working towards, also enables these commitments to be channelled upstream to suppliers and downstream to buyers, with the potential to transform the entire supply chain.

Following the Policy Toolbox Working Group’s observation that common questions and concerns were raised by GPSNR members during the Members Consultation period, the Working Group has developed a supplementary FAQ document to provide detailed responses to address these concerns, in a bid to provide greater clarity on the Policy Components. These will be circulated to the GPSNR membership in August, along with all other proposed resolutions.

Singapore, 21 March 2019: Today, natural rubber stakeholders convened for the inaugural General Assembly of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) – an independent platform that will lead improvements in the socio-economic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain.

Development of the GPSNR was initiated by the CEOs of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Tire Industry Project (TIP) in November 2017.

Members of the platform include tire manufacturers, rubber suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and NGOs. Representatives from each of these stakeholder groups have contributed to the development of the Singapore-based platform and the wide-reaching set of priorities that will define GPSNR strategy and objectives.

Following a ceremonial launch in October 2018 interest in the GPSNR has seen membership grow to 39 Founding Members including recruitment of the platform’s first civil society members. The GPSNR remains open to membership applications from all natural rubber stakeholders.

The General Assembly saw the approval of organizational Statutes and Code of Conduct, and the formation of an Executive Committee that has the mandate of overseeing the strategic and operational activities of the GPSNR. As required by the Statutes, the Executive Committee comprises representatives from each of the four GPSNR membership categories – 1. Rubber producers, processors and traders; 2. Car makers, Other downstream users of natural rubber, and financial institutions; 3. Tire makers and other natural rubber makers/buyers ; and, 4. Civil society organizations.

Reacting to the formation of the Executive Committee, GPSNR Director Stefano Savi, said “The appointment of the Executive Committee is a critical piece to a landmark achievement. It has taken considerable effort from all stakeholders to bring us to this point. We know that the real hard work lies ahead, but today from Singapore we send a clear message – the GPSNR is open for business.”

The platform is working to finalize its operational strategy, guided by the stakeholder-agreed GPSNR priorities of harmonizing standards to improve respect for human rights, preventing land-grabbing and deforestation, protecting biodiversity and water resources, improving yields, and increasing supply chain transparency and traceability.

Following proceedings from Geneva, Peter Bakker, WBCSD’s President and CEO said “We are enormously proud to see the GPSNR take this important step. The commitment of TIP members to achieve sustainable natural rubber has been a crucial driving force in taking the GPSNR from concept to reality. Today, our members are joined by a growing and increasingly well-balanced GPSNR membership of rubber value chain and civil society members – the actors are in place, and the foundations for transformative action along the natural rubber value chain have been laid. Now the real work can begin.”

For membership enquiries and more information on the GPSNR, please contact info@gpsnr.org

GPSNR Founding Members at the time of the platform’s inaugural General Assembly, March 2019, per GPSNR membership category, alphabetical order:

Producers, processors and traders:

Halcyon Agri Corporation, ITOCHU Corporation, Kirana Megatara, MARDEC, PRASIDHA, SIPEF, SIPH, Socfin Group, Southland Global, Thai Eastern

Car Makers, Other Downstream Users, and Financial Institutions:

BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, General Motors

Tire Makers and Other Natural Rubber Makers/Buyers:

Bridgestone Corporation, Continental AG, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Hankook Tire Co., Ltd., Kumho Tire Company Inc., Michelin, Nokian Tyres, Pirelli & C. S.p.A., Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd., Toyo Tire Corporation, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.

Civil Society organizations:

BirdLife International, Conservation International, HCV Resource Network, FSC, Mighty Earth, PEFC, Rainforest Alliance, RESOURCETRUST NETWORK, SNV, World Resources Institute, WWF

Affiliate Member Organizations:

Tanintharyi Region Rubber Planters and Producers Association (TRRPPA), ProForest, Control Union

For membership enquiries and more information on the GPSNR, please contact info@gpsnr.org