Secretariat Update – September 2019

ESSEC Asia Pacific partnered with the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber for their first Global Manager in Asia (GMA) project.

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This update was prepared by Assel Mussagaliyeva, Industry Relations and Academic Projects Manager, Essec Asia Pacific.

ESSEC Asia Pacific partnered with the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber for their first Global Manager in Asia (GMA) project. The GMA Project included diverse multinational companies and startups with strong Asian core: International Finance Corporation (IFC Fintech Group), Grab for Business, ACT Genomics, Creatella Ventures and GPSNR. Involving 148 ESSEC Master in Management students, the Project took place on 1 July – 11 September 2019, followed by the Final Jury.

The project results were in line with GPSNR priorities in the three Asian markets. The 6 student teams under the close guidance of Stefano Savi and Kobrat Sawasdivorn explored the challenges of the smallholder farmers affecting equity of the rubber supply chain in Thailand, China and Indonesia. The results of the student research will be presented to the GPSNR Working Groups.

Assel Mussagaliyeva, Industry Relations and Academic Projects Manager, said it was a good project both from a teaching perspective as well as practical experience for the students. Firstly, it was hands on experience challenging students to think ‘out of the box’ as it involved multiple layers: a variety of stakeholders, unfamiliar context, lack of industry knowledge and limited country data. Secondly, it was a great chance for the students to work on a big picture issue, especially in today’s world of climate change challenges. The project itself was well focused and narrow enough for the students to have an opportunity to make a tangible difference.

“ESSEC Asia Pacific is grateful to GPSNR for our collaboration on multiple levels,” said Mussagaliyeva. In March 2019, GPSNR participated at the ESSEC APAC Talent Day and offered internship for the Global BBA student Tanmay Daga. Following that, Stefano Savi participated in the first ESSEC APAC student-led TedX event as an invited speaker on sustainability. Soon after, the GMA Project scope was discussed.

“We look forward to working with GPSNR in the future,” said Mussagaliyeva. The mission of ESSEC Business School is to create and disseminate cutting-edge knowledge, to train and develop bold pioneers and influential leaders for both the business world and society. We encourage the students and programme participants to anticipate – and meet – the economic, managerial, social, environmental and ethical challenges of an increasingly uncertain world. These values align with GPSNR mission as sustainability is an integral part of responsible innovation. 

The Secretariat has also published the executive summary of minutes of each working group in the “News and Publications” section of the website. All members of the platform can login to the website to view the documents under the Members Only section. There are currently 2 working groups, the Strategy & Objectives working group chaired by James Laimos of Goodyear and the Smallholders Representation working group chaired by Ulrich Antoni of Pirelli. The executive summary of each working group will be updated on a bi-weekly basis. If you have any issues accessing the website, please send us an email at info@gpsnr.org.

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News

GPSNR Working Groups Update: May 2021

It’s been a busy few months for all the working groups! Here are some of their key updates.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

In April 2021, the Strategy and Objectives working group completed a significant piece of work by finalising the Desired State Document. This month, the group has received ten key recommendations on equity from the Equity Sub-working group. 

These include integrating equity-centric Principles, Practices and Priorities across GPSNR’s procedures and work programs and recommending member companies to do the same. You can find all the recommendations here

These recommendations go beyond the work of the group itself and cover the role of equity in most GPSNR interventions. 

Proforest with Liza Murphy have also submitted the second draft of the Environmental Risk Assessment of Natural Rubber Production and Production and Processing to the group. 

Smallholder Representation Working Group 

Since August 2020, the smallholder onboarding process has been integrating smallholders into GPSNR’s structures and functions.  This month, the smallholder working group conducted a r satisfaction survey for the 28 smallholders within GPSNR to assess the successes and challenges of the smallholder onboarding process. 

Of the 28 smallholders at GPSNR, 16 responded to the survey. While structural issues like the digital divide, access to technology and language barriers are causes for concern in smallholder engagement, the survey results were encouraging. 

15 out of 16 smallholders responded positively on being asked if they better understood GPSNR’s aims after the onboarding process. They also offered plenty of constructive feedback to improve the onboarding experience for future members. These include improving communications and information sharing, clearer rules and organisational goals, and ways to enhance smallholder engagement on the platform.  However, the information that remains unclear for a majority of the respondents centers around the rules of membership and goals of the smallholder representation working group. These will be addressed in the new onboarding programmes that the working group is developing.

The group has also reached out to Thai farmer associations to recruit new members from Thailand, and is also preparing for a workshop to recruit smallholders in Cambodia. At the same time, the group continues to seek responses from the smallholders who haven’t yet completed the survey. 

Policy Toolbox Working Group 

After receiving some strong proposals for the development of guidance for the Compliance Panel operations, the Policy Toolbox working group is now reviewing these and will have a finalist in the coming few weeks. 

For context, GPSNR Statutes mandate the creation of an independent Compliance Panel to  ensure that members conform with Statutes, Code of Conduct, decisions, standards and processes, and make recommendations to the GPSNR Executive Committee. 

After an extensive selection process, the group has also chosen ZSL to work on the Reporting Requirements development as they have significant experience in similar projects. Simultaneously, they have completed the first round of focus group calls and surveys for the development of the implementation guidance. 

Capacity Building Working Group 

After presenting a funding mechanism of capacity building projects to the Executive Committee earlier this month, the Funding Taskforce in the Capacity Building working group has finalised the process and will be broadcasting it to all members in July 2021. 

This funding mechanism is a temporary measure which will support GPSNR’s capacity building initiatives while the larger funding model is finalised.

At the same time, the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) taskforce has finalised GPSNR’s GAP principles. 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

The group has put together a draft input on the Implementation Guidance from a traceability perspective this month. 

After conducting discussions on traceability and data requirements for GPSNR, this is also developing data collection and reporting standards together with the Policy Toolbox working group.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

Having finalised the Implementation Framework for Shared Responsibility, the group has finalised a first round discussion of the problem statements for the natural rubber supply chain. 

This has allowed the group to identify the causal pathways and root causes of the issues affecting shared responsibility investment, supply chain data transparency and reinforcing sustainable supply chains (key focus areas for the group). With this step completed, the group is now looking at proposing solutions for these issues that GPSNR can implement. This first draft of solutions will be soon shared with the different categories members for an initial informal consultation.

News

Secretariat Update – February 2020

On Friday 7 February, Singapore announced that it was stepping up its risk assessment level. Previously at ‘Yellow’ on the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) scale, the country is now at ‘Orange’. This change triggered additional precautionary measures such as an advice to cancel or defer all non-essential large-scale events. More countries are also putting in place such measures, from enforced quarantine for certain travelers to outright travel restrictions.

The safety and comfort of all members remains our utmost priority. The Secretariat will continue to monitor the situation closely, with the intention to hold the General Assembly once it becomes more stable. The new date for the General Assembly will be in 2020, and will be communicated with due notice to all members. 

During this time, all Working Groups will continue to advance their work in establishing a policy toolbox, shaping capacity building initiatives, achieving transparency and traceability, and solidifying smallholder inclusivity in GPSNR. 

The GPSNR Executive Committee has agreed to extend the deadline for submission of General Assembly resolutions and Executive Committee nominations to Tuesday, 31 March 2020.

For the latest updates on the progress of our Working Groups, please refer to the News and Publications section of our website.

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