Since its discovery more than 1,000 years ago in Ethiopia, coffee has grown to become a staple for many people. About 125 million people earn their livelihoods in the coffee sector. Many millions more are warmed and energized by the popular brewed beverage.

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) have become well established in the global coffee sector since they emerged over 30 years ago. Roasters, retailers, and consumers in many markets regularly use standards to distinguish between conventionally produced coffee and more sustainable alternatives.

This report looks closely at sustainable production and consumption trends in the coffee sector, focusing on how VSSs can make a difference in producers’ livelihoods by, for example, raising farm gate prices or supporting climate resilience and soil and water conservation. It includes a detailed analysis and recommendations for actors throughout the value chain on how to increase farmers’ prices and income while providing more value for their sustainably grown coffee.

La Suisse et l’Indonésie ont signé, le 24 mai 2022, un accord de protection des investissements (API). Intervenant dans le contexte général des réformes du régime international des investissements et dans le cadre spécifique de réformes des politiques en matière d’investissement des deux pays, cet accord s’inscrit en principe dans la nouvelle génération d’API. Ce document fournit une analyse sommaire d'une sélection d’articles de cet API, à la suite d'un processus inédit de consultation d'un API conclu par la Suisse avant sa ratification. Tout en mentionnant les points innovants, l’analyse met l’accent sur des articles problématiques ou qui pourraient être renforcés. L’objectif est d’attirer l’attention sur les aspects qui pourraient être améliorés à la lumière des bonnes pratiques internationales dans les futurs API négociés ou renégociés de la Suisse. À cet effet, la seconde partie du document fournit des options, ainsi que des références à d’autres instruments, pour le renforcement de certaines approches adaptées dans l’API.

The new investment protection agreement (IPA) between Switzerland and Indonesia of May 24, 2022: Major innovations, but important aspects remain to be improved.

Switzerland and Indonesia signed an IPA on May 24, 2022. This agreement is, in principle, part of the new generation of IPAs taking place in the general context of reforms of the international investment regime and within the specific framework of investment policy reforms in both countries. This paper provides a summary analysis of selected articles of this IPA after Switzerland concluded an unprecedented consultation process for an IPA prior to its ratification. While mentioning innovative points, the analysis highlights articles that are problematic or could be strengthened. The objective is to draw attention to aspects that could be improved in light of international best practices in future negotiated or renegotiated IPAs in Switzerland. To this end, the second part of the paper provides options, as well as references to other instruments, for the strengthening of certain suitable approaches in the IPA.

Agriculture and food systems in Nigeria face key challenges.They need to simultaneously provide sufficient food for all, improve incomes and productivity for small-scale producers, make diets healthier and more affordable, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and build capacities needed to adapt to climate change. However, in the past few years, as a result of internal conflict, low oil prices, an economic slowdown, COVID-19—and now rising food and fertilizer prices, made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine—hunger and poverty have been rising steeply, healthy diets are unattainable for most people, and the impacts of climate change are experienced more frequently and severely.

Hunger and poverty are projected to keep rising until 2030. Even among those who do get enough calories, many will be malnourished due, in part, to the unaffordability of diets that both provide sufficient calories and satisfy the complex nutritional requirements of human bodies. The demographic dynamics in Nigeria will continue to exacerbate these challenges, with the population expected to grow from 206 million people in 2020 to 263 million people in 2030. As the population and incomes grow in Nigeria, so too will demand for food and more diversity in food choices, which will exacerbate environmental challenges. At the same time, Nigeria is home to some of the global public goods that are needed to address climate change, preserve biodiversity, and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Transforming food systems to deliver on hunger, poverty, healthy diets, and climate change while safeguarding global public goods will require significant efforts and resources and therefore global solidarity—in other words, more external aid.

To support the transformation to sustainable food systems in Nigeria, this report aims to equip country-level decision makers and the donor community with knowledge regarding the cost of sustainable food system transformation; evidence on which to base decisions regarding where and how to make investments to simultaneously contribute to access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food (SDG 2.1 and 2.2); smallholder productivity and incomes (SDG 2.3); and environmentally sustainable agriculture production (SDG 2.4).

The report combines a review of country-level policy documents and peer-reviewed literature with a microeconomic analysis of changing diets, food consumption habits, and nutrition; three rounds of consultations with in-country stakeholders; and the country-level findings for Nigeria from the project Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger. The findings are integrated into a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model that estimates the cost of ending hunger, doubling the income of small-scale producers, and transitioning to healthier diets while protecting the climate and investing in climate change adaptation. The report is part of a project that explores the interactions between reducing hunger and poverty, achieving healthy diets, and addressing climate change within the evolving food systems in three countries—Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria.

Agriculture and food systems in Malawi face key challenges. They need to simultaneously provide sufficient food for all, improve incomes and productivity for small-scale producers, make diets healthier and more affordable, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and build capacities needed to adapt to climate change. Yet, in the past few years, as a result of climate change, economic slowdowns, and COVID-19—and now rising food, fertilizer, and energy prices made worse by the Russian invasion of Ukraine—hunger and poverty have been on the rise, healthy diets are unattainable for most people, and the impacts of climate change are experienced more frequently and severely.

Even among those who do get enough calories, many will be malnourished due, in part, to the unaffordability of diets that both provide sufficient calories and satisfy the complex nutritional requirements of human bodies. The demographic dynamics in Malawi will continue to exacerbate these challenges, with the population expected to grow from 19.1 million people in 2020 to 25.8 million people in 2030. As the population and incomes grow in Malawi, so too will demand for food and more dietary diversity, which will exacerbate environmental challenges. At the same time, Malawi is home to some of the global public goods that are needed to address climate change, preserve biodiversity, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Transforming food systems to deliver on hunger, poverty, healthy diets, and climate change while safeguarding global public good will require significant efforts and resources—and therefore global solidarity; in other words, more domestic support and more external aid.

To support the transition to sustainable food systems in Malawi, this report aims to equip country-level decision-makers and the donor community with knowledge regarding the cost of sustainable food system transformation; evidence on which to base decisions regarding where and how to make investments to contribute to access to simultaneously sufficient, safe, and nutritious food (SDG 2.1 and 2.2); smallholder productivity and incomes (SDG 2.3); and environmentally sustainable agriculture production (SDG 2.4).

The report combines a review of country-level policy documents and peer-reviewed literature with a microeconomic analysis of changing diets, food consumption habits, and nutrition; four rounds of consultations with in-country stakeholders; and the country-level findings for Malawi from the project, Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger. The findings are integrated into a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, which estimates the cost of ending hunger, doubling the income of small-scale producers, and transitioning to healthier diets while protecting the climate and investing in climate change adaptation. The report is part of a project that explores the interactions between reducing hunger and poverty, achieving healthy diets, and addressing climate change within the evolving food systems in three countries—Ethiopia, Malawi, and Nigeria.

Artisanal and small-scale mining is an essential component of West African economies. Millions of people within the region depend on it, either directly or indirectly, for their livelihoods, and it is responsible for a significant proportion of the region's mineral and metal production. When effectively governed and supported, the sector offers an excellent opportunity to advance national and regional sustainable development goals, including through the mobilization of national revenues and the creation of employment for the most vulnerable.

The 2012 discovery of a rich vein of gold stretching across the Sahel region from east to west and the subsequent gold rush coincided with a rise in religious extremism, conflict, and crime in the region, particularly in the three countries: Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

Illegal activities, including armed violence, terrorism, and organized crime, have exacerbated governance problems in parts of the three countries; large areas at the confluence of the three borders are now beyond the control of governments and are expanding. There is an urgent need to support government efforts to restore stability, protect their citizens and the environment, formalize mining operations, reduce corruption, and increase tax revenues from the sector.

This report presents an analysis of the context of artisanal mining in border areas currently plagued by violence and conflict. The analysis focuses on three key areas:

• The current regional and national governance frameworks for artisanal and small-scale gold mining
• Illicit financial flows associated with the sector
• The links between conflict, crime, and artisanal gold mining

Finally, the report offers recommendations to the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger on how they can strengthen their response to the threat of illicit financial flows, conflict, and crime associated with artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

This study uses PSUs in the coal sector to show how energy businesses can identify their future uncertainties while also finding opportunities in the changing energy system. Taking a few concrete measures in the next few years to diversify their businesses can allow these firms—and other similar PSUs in India—to alleviate future uncertainty and avoid potential revenue gaps.

The companies can follow these six steps to ensure they are part of India’s clean energy future:

1. Create a net-zero roadmap with interim targets, which can become a guide for future decisions.
2. Develop in-house estimates on transition business risks.
3. Identify new clean energy business opportunities and become early adopters of clean energy technologies.
4. Set clean energy targets in proportion to anticipated change and periodically increase the ambition of these targets.
5. Build strategic partnerships with other PSUs to share expertise and invest in research and development to build internal capacity in new and emerging clean energy technologies.
6. Make ambitions for the transition public to send positive market signals.

The report encourages all state-owned energy enterprises to use an evidence-based approach to produce their own detailed internal assessments and a strategy for transition into a clean energy business.

Agriculture is a pillar of the economy in East Africa, employing as much as 80% of the population and representing 25% of GDP. Expanding the sector has great potential to improve livelihoods and bring widespread prosperity to people in the region.

Partner States of the East African Community (EAC)—Burundi, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda—are pursuing regional agricultural objectives, as defined in policies developed by the EAC that seek to:

• Maintain and increase agricultural productivity
• Overcome trade barriers to improve intra-regional trade
• Build resilience to climate change.

IISD’s State of Sustainability Initiatives’ first regional report, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSSs) in East Africa, shows that adopting standards to produce staple crops like beans, maize, rice, and wheat can help achieve these regional policy objectives while protecting vital ecosystems, managing scarce resources efficiently, and supporting workers' livelihoods and rights. There is a great opportunity to use VSSs to sustainably increase the production and trade of staple crops in East Africa. Importantly, smallholder farmers stand to benefit from this growth—they form a large part of the supplier base and depend on staple crops for livelihoods and personal consumption. At the same time, such growth will reduce import dependency in the region.

This research shows that sustainability standards can:

• Incentivize climate-resilient practices, such as improving soil quality, using water more efficiently, integrating agro-forestry practices, and facilitating ecosystem restoration.
• Help increase productivity among staple crop producers—for instance, by improving crop handling and storage practices so farmers can deal with mold contamination that threatens crops and by supporting access to high-quality inputs and related training.
• Facilitate intraregional trade by encouraging producers to comply with relevant laws and regulations and by encouraging alignment between other standards and best practices—for instance, through their criteria on managing pests, disease outbreaks, and targeted chemical use.

Accordingly, the report includes recommendations for VSS bodies, the EAC, and its Partner States to support the use of standards to achieve sustainable agricultural growth in harmony with nature and communities. Publication Type

The proposed framework takes into consideration both stocks and flows and encompasses indicators of economic, as well as environmental, social, and human factors that are the basis for wellbeing in the long-term. Recommendations include convening a G20 study group, engaging statistical agencies, and shaping policies along these new measures. G20 countries are ideally positioned to lead on all of this.

Among the handful of credible counterparts to GDP is inclusive wealth. Inclusive wealth measures the assets that underlie human wellbeing: natural, human, social, produced and financial capital. An increase in inclusive wealth signals an increase in wellbeing. Conversely, when inclusive wealth falls, wellbeing must fall as well. Inclusive wealth is, therefore, a powerful measure of sustainability.

Building on the recommendation of T20 Saudi Arabia, this policy brief calls for G20 countries to move beyond GDP by complementing it with inclusive wealth indicators by 2025. Doing so is key to unlocking the financing needed for the SGDs and achieving the 2030 Agenda. GDP drives decision-makers towards short-term thinking. Adding inclusive wealth to decision-makers’ toolboxes would ensure that long-term goals like the SDGs—and the funding to achieve them—are not forgotten.

The IISD designed a social taxonomy (system of classification) of business activities that promote social good and social governance improvements, both inspired by international norms and good practices, which were turned into minimum threshold-level activities that must be met for the user of the social taxonomy to assess its levels of contributions. The taxonomy has two sets of broad guiding principles (GPs): GP1 on promoting overall social well-being (enhancing positive social impacts) and GP2 on enhancing respect for human rights and enhanced company conduct (through company-level governance improvements on social issues).

The minimum threshold-level activities are a prerequisite for the application of GP1 and GP2. The threshold refers mostly to social safeguards, but also to minimum environmental safeguards, in an effort to create reference points between the social and environmental taxonomy and promote an integrated approach to achieving social and environmental sustainability.

To these foundational principles, IISD added a progressive system of implementation assessment that is designed to help companies move from a state of being out of compliance with domestic law to achieving international good practice, over time and at their own pace, using a colour-coded system.

For the dominant sectors in the client country, such as construction and real estate; utilities and infrastructure; finance and financial services; extractive; technology and telecommunications; education; healthcare; agriculture; and cross-sectoral activities, the taxonomy provides illustrative qualifying business activities that can contribute toward GP1 or GP2.