Press Release: GPSNR General Assembly 2021

Strategy and Objectives Working Group: Feedback on the Assurance model resolution has closed, and the finalised version of the resolution will be released shortly, along with other voting materials. The agenda for the in-person meetings has been released, and discussions will focus on further developing the assurance model. Members will now vote on the assurance model resolution at the Extraordinary General Assembly. Members are encouraged to participate in the in-person meetings and provide input on the assurance model content.

Smallholders Representation and Capacity Building (SCB) Working Group: A consultation call was held with smallholder members to discuss resolutions for the upcoming Extraordinary General Assembly. Instructional videos have been developed to aid smallholders in effectively using Zoom. All projects are progressing as planned, and we continue to oversee all ongoing projects.

Currently, the Income Diversification and Rubber Agroforestry Taskforce is actively preparing for a rubber agroforestry workshop in Liberia, planned for May 2024. Additionally, the project proposal template has been finalised, and we will soon issue a call for proposals to both members and the public. Once submitted, these proposals will be added to our project library for member review and potential funding.

Shared Responsibility Working Group: The Value Transfer Group has held subsequent meetings to discuss the value transfer proposal. The group continues to meet to refine this proposal, which will be presented at the in-person meetings in June. After the in-person meeting, the group hopes to run a pilot to test the proposal in the field.

PRESS RELEASE

In new industry agreement, Global Natural Rubber companies will report annually on their sustainability progress

Singapore, 15 December 2021: Members of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) convened their annual General Assembly, which saw the approval of a set of detailed sustainability reporting parameters that all members will be required to complete annually from 2022 onwards. This will standardize sustainability reporting in the natural rubber industry, as many GPSNR member companies have already included strong sustainability commitments  in their natural rubber production and procurement policies.  

As GPSNR member companies account for about 50% of global natural rubber volume, their ability to transparently report on the same sustainability standards will aid a structural change in the industry to ensure harmonised sustainability reporting becomes the norm. 

“This is a tremendous milestone for the Platform and for the natural rubber industry. In our third annual General Assembly, we have moved further towards developing a model that helps our members ensure that their products and services are delivered in alignment with GPSNR’s principles, and can be monitored for continuous improvement. The reporting requirements have been agreed upon by upstream and downstream industry stakeholders as well as civil society players to ensure accountability. This serves as a testament to our model of driving sustainability, equity and fairness through multi stakeholder collaborations.’’ said GPSNR Director Stefano Savi. 

GPSNR’s third virtual General Assembly drew more than 120 attendees, including members of the Platform, partners and invited guests. In addition to voting on resolutions like the reporting requirements, GPSNR members also elected representatives to the 2021-2022 Executive Committee, which comprises representatives from each of the membership categories. 

Access the reporting requirements here. 

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About GPSNR: 

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

For more information, please contact:

Bani Bains

Communications Manager

Email: bani.bains@gpsnr.org

Ph: +65 97268165