Working toward more transparent and sustainable forms of production, consumption, and trade.

About SSI

The State of Sustainability Initiatives advances sustainable and inclusive value chains by providing credible and solutions-oriented research, dialogue, and strategic advice for decision-makers about voluntary sustainability standards and other supportive initiatives.

Learn More

Latest Publications

South-South Trade and Voluntary Sustainability Standards: Challenges and opportunities

South–South trade is growing rapidly. This report explores how governments in developing countries are using sustainability standards in their trade policies to ensure this growth benefits small-scale producers, communities, and the environment.

Global Market Report: Sugar cane prices and sustainability

This report explores recent market trends in the sugar cane sector, what these trends mean for producers in developing countries, and what sustainability standards, governments, and private sector actors can do to improve farmers' incomes.

Global Market Report: Palm oil prices and sustainability

This report unpacks recent market trends in the palm oil sector and examines the role that sustainability standards can play in ensuring that palm oil producers receive fair incomes and are incentivized to adopt more sustainable practices.

Three Ways Standards Can Help Deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals

This article unpacks how sustainability standards can help deliver results on Sustainable Development Goals 2, 6, and 17 and support governments to track their progress ahead of the 2023 High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development.

Leveraging Sustainability Standards for Reporting on SDG Progress

This report explores the role that VSSs can play in helping governments advance the Sustainable Development Goals and better track and report on their progress toward achieving them.

Reducing Poverty: Voluntary sustainability standards can support smallholder farmers

A new policy brief summarizes the findings of our SSI Review exploring how VSSs can help reduce poverty for smallholder farmers.

South–South Trade and Voluntary Sustainability Standards: Challenges and opportunities

This webinar will share and discuss the findings from a new report exploring the use and effectiveness of sustainability standards in South-South trade policies.

Recommendations to Support Organic Agriculture in Madagascar

This webinar brought together local actors and policy officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries of Madagascar to present recommendations for implementing the first Territoire à vocation d'agriculture biologique in the country.

Measures to Enhance Forest Conservation and Reduce Deforestation

This event aimed to enhance participants' understanding of domestic policy efforts in developing economies and the evolving trade policy context to address deforestation and enhance forest conservation.

Food Loss and Food Waste in Kenya: From sourcing to supplying

IISD and the Retail Trade Association of Kenya hosted a one-day workshop in Nairobi for supply chain actors and policy-makers to discuss ways to reduce food loss and food waste in Kenya.

Exploring the Benefits of Integrating Sustainability Standards in the Kenyan Flower Sector

This meeting convened participants from a new study on the alignment of voluntary and mandatory sustainability standards in the Kenyan flower sector to share and discuss research findings of interest to policy-makers advancing sustainability and trade goals in other agricultural sectors.

Transparency and Visibility in Cotton Textile and Apparel Value Chains

This webinar convened members of the Sustainable Fashion Academy (SFA) Learning and Innovation Network for an interactive session addressing tools for enhancing transparency, visibility, and collaboration in textile and apparel supply chains.

Commodities Coverage

Our current work highlights eight agricultural commodities complying with voluntary sustainability standards, focusing on global sustainable consumption and production.

Banana

Cocoa

Coffee

Cotton

Palm Oil

Soybean

Sugar

Tea

View All Commodities