The International Trade Centre has teamed up once again with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the International Institute for Sustainable Development to provide data about 14 major sustainability standards for bananas cocoa coffee cotton oil palm soybeans sugarcane tea and forestry products. This year’s report adds data from 2021 and finds that slow growth resumed after a dip in 2020. The publication helps shape decisions of policymakers producers and businesses working to address systemic labour and environmental challenges through certified sustainable production.

This fourth global report on The State of Sustainable Markets provides new insights into the evolution of certified agriculture and forestry and indicates significant growth in sustainability markets. It demonstrates how ITC supports “good trade” that contributes to environmental and social sustainability for both producers and consumers through collaboration with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the International Institute for Sustainable Development providing data about 14 major sustainability standards for: bananas cocoa coffee cotton oil palm soybeans sugarcane tea and forestry products. Each product features serious sustainability challenges: child labour water scarcity workers’ rights use of chemicals etc. This report facilitates transparency by summarizing each product's respective challenges and by showing which standards' initiatives are gaining traction. Such transparency helps to address major societal problems while shaping decisions of those policymakers producers and businesses working to address systemic labour and environmental challenges through certified sustainable production.

The report shows significant growth in sustainability markets. The data is extensive and reliable. It shows how ITC is supporting “good trade” that contributes to environmental and social sustainability for producers and consumers. Each product (bananas cotton etc.) also features serious sustainability challenges: child labour water scarcity workers’ rights use of chemicals etc. Thus this report is potentially of interest to journalists. It provides transparency by summarizing those challenges and by showing which standards initiatives are gaining traction – thus helping to address major societal problems.

This publication shows significant growth in sustainability markets. Offering a pathway to formalizing the reporting process with a view to making data on sustainable markets more accessible to all it provides a market data survey on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS). The first section constitutes an overview of the VSS surveyed including a short description and key data. Section two includes production-related data for key global sustainability standards across nine commodity sectors – bananas cocoa coffee cotton forestry palm oil soybeans cane sugar and tea – and addresses each product's serious sustainability challenges such as child labour water scarcity workers’ rights use of chemicals and more. Demonstrating ITC's support for "good trade" that contributes to environmental and social sustainability for producers and consumers the report provides transparency by summarizing those challenges and by noting which standards initiatives are gaining traction.