The recent announcement by Nestle that it will only use certified sustainable palm oil is the latest in a number of high-profile pledges from multinational companies. Cadbury is now using Fairtrade cocoa in some of its products and the majority of cartons produced by Tetra Pak in the UK and Ireland can be made from paperboard sourced from FSC certified forests.
These are all impressive achievements but it is important for companies to ensure that they have the necessary partnerships and supply chain infrastructure in place to ensure that they can meet and sustain such ambitious targets.
More than this, however, it is imperative that businesses in the developed economies consider the broader impacts their demands for more environmentally friendly products have on suppliers in the developing world. Many of these participants in the global supply chain do not always have access to the finances, technology and resources to meet the ever-increasing demands of Western producers. Indeed, simply expecting suppliers to switch to “sustainable” production does nothing to address the local problems of deforestation, habitat loss and social conflicts caused by the monoculture of palm oil production.
It is important that companies, in conjunction with governments and consumers, continue to push the green agenda forward. However, our collective aims and aspirations must be sustainable in both the short and long term. This means offering direct help to improve and develop the productive capacity in the supply chain to provide the more environmentally friendly primary products we are asking for. In short, it is necessary to think about the wider implications our purchasing decisions have on communities in the developing world.
I completely agree with you. I saw a documentary on BBC news on the making of coffee. Even though some companies label their products as fair trade, the farmer’s salary is still lower than their living expenses.
And if the fair trade companies do pay them a “minimum wage” the prices are still too high that it might not become a long term solution.
Do you think that if their was a unified international trade policy that all countries must abide it would be a better solution?
Also, what is the human cost of being environmentally friendly? I know the benefits but I haven’t found an article on the cost for us.