Assessing the potential additionality of certification by the Round table on Responsible Soybeans and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
Assessing the potential additionality of certification by the Round table on Responsible Soybeans and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
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DOI：
10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/045003
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发表时间：
2016-04-01
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Noojipady, Praveen
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Garrett, Rachael D.;Carlson, Kimberly M.;Noojipady, Praveen
提供认证计划的多方利益攸关方圆桌会议有望建立自愿治理机制，以解决与国际农业供应链相关的可持续性问题。然而，关于圆桌会议认证是否具有额外性，以及认证的好处是否超出了现有政策和做法的预期，人们知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了负责任大豆圆桌会议(RTRS)和可持续棕榈油圆桌会议(RSPO)在缓解本地植被向农田转化方面的潜在附加性。我们根据一切照常的土地复盖变化动态和相对于现有政策的圆桌会议标准严格性来制定额外性的衡量标准。我们将这一指标应用于所有2013-2014年拥有RTRS(n=8)和RSPO(n=12)认证产量的国家，以及没有认证生产但在大豆(n=2)和油棕榈油(N=2)方面跻身全球十大生产国之列的国家。我们发现，除巴西和乌拉圭外，RSPO和RTRS的严格程度都大大高于现有的国家政策。在采用这些认证标准的地区，这两个标准的树木覆盖转化为目标作物的平均估计比率是相似的。RTRS的平均相对严格程度高于RSPO，但RSPO国家的执法水平略高。因此，RTRS和RSPO的平均潜在附加性在不同地区是相似的。值得注意的是，额外性水平最高的国家也有一些采用。然而，由于采用率极低(2014年全球收获面积的0.41%)，RTRS的影响可能低于RSPO(14%)。与大多数认证计划一样，这两个圆桌会议都没有有效地针对小农生产者。为改善自然生态系统保护，圆桌会议可以针对环境治理水平较低和森林退耕率较高的地区采取行动。
Multi-stakeholder roundtables offering certification programs are promising voluntary governance mechanisms to address sustainability issues associated with international agricultural supply chains. Yet, little is known about whether roundtable certifications confer additionality, the benefits of certification beyond what would be expected from policies and practices currently in place. Here, we examine the potential additionality of the Round table on Responsible Soybeans (RTRS) and the Roundtable on Sustainable PalmOil (RSPO) in mitigating conversion of native vegetation to cropland. We develop a metric of additionality based on business as usual land cover change dynamics and roundtable standard stringency relative to existing policies. We apply this metric to all countries with RTRS (n = 8) and RSPO(n = 12) certified production in 2013-2014, as well as countries that have no certified production but are among the top ten global producers in terms of soy (n = 2) and oil palm (N = 2). We find RSPO and RTRS both have substantially higher levels of stringency than existing national policies except in Brazil and Uruguay. In regions where these certification standards are adopted, the mean estimated rate of tree cover conversion to the target crop is similar for both standards. RTRS has higher mean relative stringency than the RSPO, yet RSPO countries have slightly higher enforcement levels. Therefore, mean potential additionality of RTRS and RSPO is similar across regions. Notably, countries with the highest levels of additionality have some adoption. However, with extremely low adoption rates (0.41% of 2014 global harvested area), RTRS likely has lower impact than RSPO (14%). Likemost certification programs, neither roundtable is effectively targeting smallholder producers. To improve natural ecosystem protection, roundtables could target adoption to regions with low levels of environmental governance and high rates of forest-to-cropland conversion.