Seeking Sustainability: COSA Preliminary Analysis of Sustainability Initiatives in the Coffee Sector
The growing economic value and consumer popularity of sustainability standards inevitably raise questions about the extent to which their structure and dynamics actually address many environmental, economic and public welfare issues.
The Committee on Sustainable Assessment (COSA) was formed, in part, to develop a scientifically credible framework capable of assessing the impacts associated with the adoption of sustainability initiatives. This paper examines the pilot phase of vetting and testing the COSA method, a farm management tool used to gather and analyze data using economic, environmental and social metrics.
This COSA method pilot test involves vetting and testing over 50 farms in five countries—including Kenya, Peru, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua—who were using the most widely-known sustainability initiatives: Fair Trade, Organic, Utz Certified and Rainforest Alliance. In the testing process, certified farms are compared with their conventional counterparts along social, economical and environmental indicators. These indicators include net income, biodiversity and soil health, market access, occupational health and safety, employment contracts and aggregate producer satisfaction. Given the small sample represented, the results of this testing process should be considered observations rather than firm conclusions or generalizations.
You might also be interested in
Financial Benefit-Sharing Issues for Critical Minerals: Challenges and opportunities for producing countries
Exploring nuances in the key features of critical minerals and the new challenges and opportunities they present to fiscal regulation.
The State of Global Environmental Governance 2023
In global environmental talks in 2023, the focus across nearly all issue areas was funding implementation and reviewing performance.
Monitoring Progress in Green Public Procurement
This report outlines the importance of monitoring progress in green public procurement (GPP) and highlights various methodologies, challenges, and recommendations.
Mapping India's Energy Policy 2023
Mapping India's Energy Policy 2023 is the latest publication in a series of annual updates on government support for energy in India that includes critical data on energy subsidies and taxation.