Press Release: GPSNR General Assembly 2022

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PRESS RELEASE


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.

Access the Shared Responsibility Framework 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

 

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News

GPSNR Working Groups Update: October 2020

In our last issue, we explored the road ahead for GPSNR’s Working Groups following the outcome of the second General Assembly. In this update, we check in on each Working Group to see where they are in their respective journeys.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Strategy and Objectives Working Group has already started working on a proposal for increased Working Group alignment within the Platform. The Working Group is also finalizing the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a study on environmental impacts, and risks, in the natural rubber value chain. With its intended focus on biodiversity and ecosystem services, this study will complement the previously commissioned social risks study (conducted by independent consultants James Griffiths & Associates Sàrl). 

The Living Income Gap studies for Indonesia and Thailand, initiated by the Equity sub-Group, are expected to be delivered to the sub-Group in November. 

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The Policy Toolbox Working Group has drafted revised Terms of Reference (ToR) that will cater to the work they now have to develop following the approval of the Policy Components at the General Assembly on 23 September 2020. The next phase of work will see the Policy Toolbox Working Group developing implementation guidance for each stakeholder group, as well as future reporting requirements that will build on the baseline reporting requirements and align with the policy implementation guidance. The revised ToR will be discussed further at the Executive Committee level before being approved. 

The Policy Components were approved as part of a resolution for the endorsement of a GPSNR policy framework for natural rubber production and sourcing for ordinary member companies. A booklet containing the Policy Components can be found here.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

The Working Group’s latest discussion was centered around its restructuring, and touched on considerations for a revised ToR to accommodate the shift in focus from developing strategies to operationalizing them. The Working Group has also kickstarted discussions around the initiation process for one of the capacity building strategies, namely the identification and gathering of Good Agricultural Practices.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Working Group will soon be reviewing Traceability and Transparency Tools Comparison study to develop next steps as well as recommendations to the Executive Committee.

Download the October 2020 Working Groups Update Slide Deck for more details on the progress of each Working Group.

GPSNR Staff October 28, 2020
Members

Embracing our Shared Responsibility: GPSNR’s newest Working Group (Members Version)

Before the second General Assembly on 23 September 2020, the GPSNR Executive Committee had approved the creation of a Shared Responsibility Working Group that would be tasked to define the principles of shared responsibility for GPSNR.

The term ‘shared responsibility’ is relatively new to the sustainability scene, and as such, there is currently no commonly accepted definition for it. In general, shared responsibility is a value-driven concept which recognizes that supply chains are structurally imbalanced in terms of value and benefit, risk, burden of compliance, climate change impacts, power of negotiation, and access to information and resources. A shared responsibility approach strives for value, benefits, risks and improvement investments to be equitably distributed across all actors within the supply chain.​

In order to establish the foundational work that would enable the creation of the Shared Responsibility Working Group, the Executive Committee formed a Task Force comprising several of its members. Over a series of weekly calls, the Task Force has developed a Terms of Reference (ToR) and a set of Guiding Principles to inform the work of the new Shared Responsibility Working Group.

It is envisioned that the Shared Responsibility Working Group will draw from the Guiding Principles for Shared Responsibility (currently being developed by the Executive Committee’s Shared Responsibility Task Force), as well as the GPSNR Equity Definition and the studies launched by the Equity Working Group, to develop an implementation framework for the platform with respect to shared responsibility.

GPSNR is now looking for members interested in joining the Shared Responsibility Working Group, to register with the Secretariat. If you are interested to join the SR WG, please email Aidan (aidan@gpsnr.org) to indicate your interest. The deadline for expressing interest is Wednesday 24th February, after which the WG will nominate co-chairs and kickoff as soon as possible.

The Shared Responsibility Working Group Terms of Reference can be found here.

Shared-Responsibility-WG-TORDownload

GPSNR Staff February 16, 2021

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Step 1: Commitment and Reporting

Members commit to this policy framework and report on these questions

policy framework and reporting requirements