Category: News

We’ve refreshed our website and added some exciting features especially for GPSNR members.

Introducing the Members Portal

The Members Portal brings together all the resources available to GPSNR members, and provides easy and quick access to ongoing member activities. Members can access this feature by logging in with the username and password provided by the Secretariat. The account details will be sent to the primary contact of each organization in early January 2021. Members who would like to request for additional accounts may contact Nigel for assistance.

Besides the Members Portal, the website features a revamped navigation menu with new pages featuring our Working Groups, Executive Committee and the Secretariat. GPSNR Articles, tenders and other documents can be accessed under the Resources heading of the new navigation menu.

Have thoughts or feedback about the new look? We want to hear from you! Write in to the Secretariat with your comments.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Working Group has received several bids in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a study on environmental impacts, and risks, in the natural rubber value chain that was published in November. The Working Group has shortlisted three candidates and, as part of the evaluation process, will be conducting with these candidates in January 2021 before awarding the bid to the successful candidate. 

The Working Group is also starting on the Theory of Change document update, an exercise which will involve all other Working Groups. This will take place in January 2021. The Equity sub-Group is preparing summary documents for the living income studies and is planning to present the studies to GPSNR members in early 2021.

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The Working Group has finalized the Baseline Reporting Requirements and these will go to the Executive Committee for review. The Working Group is also developing a Request for Proposal for a consultant to work on the implementation guidance and reporting requirements.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

Since the last update, the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Task Force has had their first kickoff call and is beginning the work to identify and/or refine guiding principles for GAPs appropriate for the sustainable production of natural rubber.

The Working Group is also engaging the Executive Committee on their comments regarding the proposed capacity building strategies for four focus countries.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

In early December, the Working Group onboarded smallholders from Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire into the group, with the smallholders participating in their first meeting on 10 December. 

Aside from reviewing the Working Group’s Terms of Reference (ToR) and its objectives moving forward, the Working Group will also be starting to develop recommendations for members on traceability and transparency tools in early 2021.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

The revised ToR for the Working Group is undergoing a final review, following which it will be sent to the Executive Committee for approval. 

The Working Group has also formalised a document that defines the role and key tasks of a Country Champion. So far, Country Champions have been actively involved in organizing and arranging national calls, supporting smallholder engagement, and providing technical and linguistic assistance.   

As part of the Working Group’s revamp, it will be undergoing a membership refresh. Part of this will also involve smallholders being onboarded into the Working Group in 2021.  The Working Group is also looking into onboarding smallholders from Cambodia. Any GPSNR members who have operations in Cambodia or partners working in Cambodia who can help to identify potential smallholders for an onboarding workshop are welcome to reach out to the Working Group’s Co-Chairs, Ulrich Antoni and Julian Oram.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Strategy and Objectives Working Group is currently revising its Terms of References (ToR) to better reflect the plans for further developing GPSNR’s Theory of Change. 

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for a study on environmental impacts, and risks, in the natural rubber value chain has been published. GPSNR members are invited to circulate the RFP to any relevant contacts who might be interested in submitting proposals for this work. The deadline for submission of proposals is 27 November 2020.  

The Equity sub-Group has received the first drafts of the Living Income Gap studies for Indonesia and Thailand, and these are currently in review by both members of the sub-Group as well as the engaged consultants. The extension of the study on Human Rights and Labour Rights’ Risk Mapping in the Global Natural Rubber Value Chains conducted by independent consultants James Griffiths & Associates Sàrl, which focuses on issues of equity, is near its completion phase.

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The revised Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Policy Toolbox Working Group is being reviewed. Following approval of the ToR, the Working Group will be in a good position to move forward on development of the implementation guidance for stakeholder groups, as well as policy equivalents for civil society organizations and smallholder producers.

The Working Group has also conducted a preliminary revision of the Baseline Reporting Requirements following feedback from GPSNR member companies during the pilot testing stage. To find out more about the Baseline Reporting Requirements pilot testing, check out our latest article, ‘Updates on the GPSNR Baseline Reporting Requirements Pilot Test’.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

The Working Group is in the midst of revising its Terms of Reference (ToR) to cater to the shift in focus to implementation plans. The Working Group is also putting together a Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Task Force that will work to identify and/or refine guiding principles for GAPs appropriate for the sustainable production of natural rubber that cater to both Industrial Plantations and Smallholder Farmers. The goal of this Task Force will be to create a document stating a high-level, international set of GAPs that can be disseminated to national Capacity Building groups for adaptation to local contexts.

The Task Force is currently looking for smallholder members who have experience in Good Agricultural Practices to join the Task Force. They will have the opportunity to collaborate and create the GAPs together with other Task Force members. Interested smallholder members are welcome to contact Aidan for more information.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Working Group is reviewing the two studies that were commissioned earlier. Plans to review the Working Group’s Terms of Reference (ToR) are also in the works as its members consider the next steps vis-à-vis the findings and conclusions from the studies. 

Smallholder Representation Working Group

Following the fourth international call with smallholder members, the Working Group has consolidated the responses from smallholder members who indicated their interest in participating in our Working Groups. A plan is underway to onboard these smallholder members into the various Working Groups.

The GPSNR Topic Talks webinar series is organised by the GPSNR Secretariat and presented by GPSNR members. The webinars cover several themes around sustainability and the global natural rubber supply chain.

The series kicked off on 27 October with a presentation by Philippe Thaler from CIRAD, on the implications of EU legislation on imported deforestation.

The second webinar’s theme was on smallholder solutions and featured two separate presentations. “A landscape-level approach to inclusion and capacity building for rubber smallholders” was presented by Rizki Permana from SNV, Widyantoko Sumarlin from Kirana Megatara, and Tony Hill from Proforest. Speaking from experience with the Kelola-Sendang project in South Sumatra, the presenters explained how SNV, with Proforest support, worked with rubber smallholder groups in the jurisdictional initiative, which helped to forge new links between the smallholders and a crumb rubber factory buyer in the Kirana group. 

Next, “Exploring Smallholder Solutions in the Rubber Sector – The Processing and Sale of Rubberwood to Support Smallholder Financing in Indonesia” was presented by Amy Smith from WWF, Gerald Tan from HeveaConnect, with Renée Corstens and Remco Geervliet from Financial Access. This presentation shared the findings of a study which analyzed the potential of rubberwood to serve as a mechanism to support smallholder financing in Indonesia.

The next theme is Assurance and smallholders, and how we can learn from existing schemes. PEFC’s CEO Ben Gunneberg presented a webinar last night, elaborating on PEFC’s approach to standard-setting and certification. He also showcased PEFC’s current collaborative projects with their national members and companies to support smallholder producers, and how these will benefit GPSNR members and the work GPSNR is engaged in.

Continuing with the theme of Assurance and smallholders, FSC will be presenting on 8 December, an overview of smallholder certification solutions.

We are also pleased to announce an addition to the Topic Talks lineup: ‘REDD+, are carbon credits impacts overstated?’. This new presentation, jointly organized with GIZ and which will be held on 10 December, puts the spotlight on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) with an introduction to the REDD+ methodology, followed by a discussion with the authors of a recently published study, “Overstated carbon emission reductions from voluntary REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon”. 

GPSNR members may contact the Secretariat to register for the upcoming Topic Talks.

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Assurance and Smallholders: Learning from Existing Schemes Part 2

“FSC Smallholder Certification Solutions”

8 December | 7PM (GMT+8)

Presented by: FSC

The presentation will cover FSC’s solutions for smallholders to become certified. First, an overview of the evaluation of certification solutions for smallholders will be given. FSC’s existing solutions will be covered, with a focus on the benefits for FSC Group Certification. Next, solutions in the pipeline will be covered, addressing the impact of pilot projects and highlighting success stories.

REDD+, are carbon credits impacts overstated?  

10 December | 3PM (GMT+8)

Jointly Organized by: GIZ 

Presented by: GIZ and authors of the study

Using REDD+ projects to offset carbon emissions through avoided deforestation and the financial support of local communities is popular but also highly debated. Especially, voluntary REDD+ projects are regularly criticized as inefficient or even greenwashing. This presentation will provide an introduction to the REDD+ methodology. The authors of a recent critical study, “Overstated carbon emission reductions from voluntary REDD+ projects in the Brazilian Amazon” will then present their findings and suggestions as a basis for discussion.

In early June 2020, GPSNR member companies were invited to participate in pilot testing a set of draft Baseline Reporting Requirements developed by the Policy Toolbox and Implementation Guidance Working Group. Along with the newly approved Policy Components, the Baseline Reporting Requirements will constitute a key requirement for GPSNR membership. 

“By having robust reporting requirements and a system to transparently report on progress, GPSNR member companies will be able to demonstrate leadership, monitor and further the effective implementation of their sustainability commitments, and ultimately drive positive impacts in the natural rubber value chain,” explained Amy Smith, Policy Toolbox Working Group Co-Chair.

The Working Group proposed pilot testing the Baseline Reporting Requirements with a group of volunteer member companies to better understand any constraints companies may have in obtaining and sharing certain information. The goal of the pilot was to refine and finalize the Baseline Reporting Requirements based on company feedback.

“In addition to pilot testing with member volunteers, we will also be assessing and evaluating the potential of existing certification schemes and reporting systems to adopt as part of GPSNR reporting requirements,” added Policy Toolbox Working Group Co-Chair, Pierre Bois d’Enghien. “This evaluation, together with the feedback we received from the pilot, will help us build a reporting system that is credible and useful for all stakeholders.” 

We are pleased to announce that a total of 11 GPSNR members volunteered for the pilot test. These members, who include Continental AG, Ford Motor Company, Halcyon Agri Corporation Limited, Hevea-Tec Indústria e Comércio LTDA, Industrias de Exportacion Universal, S.A., ITOCHU Corporation, Michelin, SIPH, Socfin SA, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd, and The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., represent all the membership categories to which the Baseline Reporting Requirements would apply. 

In mid-July, the reporting platform was opened to the pilot participants, who were given three weeks to submit the required data. Concurrently, the Secretariat conducted one-on-one interviews with the participants to gather feedback about their experience using the baseline reporting platform as well as their suggestions on ways to improve the process. 

“Our volunteer member companies were instrumental in helping to refine the Baseline Reporting Requirements and ensuring that the platform’s reporting mechanisms are relevant and meaningful for all our members,” said GPSNR Director Stefano Savi. “This improvement will help us achieve our shared objectives of ensuring a sustainable and equitable natural rubber supply chain.”

Following the approval of the policy requirements at the General Assembly in September, the Policy Toolbox Working Group will review the compiled company feedback from the pilot and the member consultation process conducted earlier this year, and will refine and finalize the Baseline Reporting Requirements for Executive Committee approval by the end of 2020. Once the Executive Committee has approved these requirements, ordinary company members will submit their baseline reporting data for 2020 to GPSNR in Q1 of 2021.

The Baseline Reporting Requirements will enable GPSNR to understand what its member companies currently know about their natural rubber supply chains, and what they are doing to move towards sustainable practices. Having a rigorous and transparent reporting process in place will strengthen the credibility of GPSNR and contribute to the development of a robust Assurance system for the platform.

The Executive Committee has approved revisions to the GPSNR Fee Schedule. 

In accordance with the terms set out in the GPSNR Statutes, the new Fee Schedule will take effect from 23 February 2021.

To view the revised Fee Schedule, click here.

GPSNR Topic Talks! is a new webinar series organised by the GPSNR Secretariat and presented by GPSNR members. The webinars will take place over three Tuesdays in October and November, and will cover three main themes around sustainability and the global natural rubber supply chain.

The first Topic Talk, a presentation by Philippe Thaler from CIRAD on the implications of EU legislation on imported deforestation, took place just yesterday night. The webinar was well attended by GPSNR members from various membership categories. In his presentation, Philippe covered the current status of EU commitments towards avoiding imported deforestation and how France has started implementing its policy. He also elaborated on the demand from French institutions to CIRAD to assess compliance with this policy in natural rubber. He concluded with some examples of how GPSNR can demonstrate the platform’s positive impacts in this context. The Q&A session afterward allowed for a deeper dive into the topic, as well as opening up some interesting questions on the use of alternative tools apart from compliance and assurance that can also help stakeholders progress towards their zero deforestation goals.

The next Topic Talks will focus on the themes of smallholder solutions as well as assurance and smallholders. More details on the upcoming webinars are provided in the subsequent section of this article. GPSNR members may contact the Secretariat to register for the webinars.

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Smallholder Solutions: From Income Diversification to Landscape Approaches

3 November 2020 | 7PM (GMT+8)   

This webinar consists of two presentations:

“A landscape-level approach to inclusion and capacity building for rubber smallholders”

Presented by: Kirana Megatara, Proforest & SNV

This presentation is based on experience from the Kelola-Sendang project in South Sumatra, where SNV, with Proforest support, worked with rubber smallholders in the context of a large jurisdictional initiative. New links were built between these groups and a crumb rubber factory buyer in the Kirana group, helping to streamline the supply chain and open channels of communication on sustainability issues.

“Exploring Smallholder Solutions in the Rubber Sector – The Processing and Sale of Rubberwood to Support Smallholder Financing in Indonesia”

Presented by: WWF with Financial Access

HeveaConnect, Target Corporation, and World Wildlife Fund are engaged in finding solutions to enhance the production and trade of sustainable natural rubber. The three organizations came together in 2019 around the shared interest in understanding how the processing and sale of rubberwood might incentivize the adoption of sustainable practices by natural rubber smallholders and enhance their livelihoods. We enlisted the services of Financial Access to analyze the potential of rubberwood to serve as a mechanism to support smallholder financing in Indonesia. Although the scope of the analysis was limited to two provinces in Sumatra, the findings of this study could be used there and elsewhere in Indonesia to inform the development of sustainable natural rubber initiatives that include the processing and trade of rubberwood as one of several strategies to support equity in natural rubber supply chains.

Assurance and Smallholders: Learning from Existing Schemes

24 November | 7PM (GMT+8)

This webinar consists of two presentations:

“FSC Smallholder Certification Solutions”

Presented by: FSC

The presentation will cover FSC’s solutions for smallholders to become certified. First, an overview of the evaluation of certification solutions for smallholders will be given. FSC’s existing solutions will be covered, with a focus on the benefits for FSC Group Certification. Next, solutions in the pipeline will be covered, addressing the impact of pilot projects and highlighting success stories.

“PEFC, a system of choice for rubber smallholders”

Presented by: PEFC

Through a comprehensive explanation of PEFC, PEFC will elaborate further on their unique bottom-up approach in standard-setting and certification. Why and how this approach makes PEFC a system of choice for rubber smallholders and all companies involved in the natural rubber supply chain. They will also showcase current collaborative projects with their national members and companies to support smallholder producers. PEFC will explain how it will benefit GPSNR members and the work that GPSNR is engaged in.

In our last issue, we explored the road ahead for GPSNR’s Working Groups following the outcome of the second General Assembly. In this update, we check in on each Working Group to see where they are in their respective journeys.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Strategy and Objectives Working Group has already started working on a proposal for increased Working Group alignment within the Platform. The Working Group is also finalizing the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a study on environmental impacts, and risks, in the natural rubber value chain. With its intended focus on biodiversity and ecosystem services, this study will complement the previously commissioned social risks study (conducted by independent consultants James Griffiths & Associates Sàrl). 

The Living Income Gap studies for Indonesia and Thailand, initiated by the Equity sub-Group, are expected to be delivered to the sub-Group in November. 

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The Policy Toolbox Working Group has drafted revised Terms of Reference (ToR) that will cater to the work they now have to develop following the approval of the Policy Components at the General Assembly on 23 September 2020. The next phase of work will see the Policy Toolbox Working Group developing implementation guidance for each stakeholder group, as well as future reporting requirements that will build on the baseline reporting requirements and align with the policy implementation guidance. The revised ToR will be discussed further at the Executive Committee level before being approved. 

The Policy Components were approved as part of a resolution for the endorsement of a GPSNR policy framework for natural rubber production and sourcing for ordinary member companies. A booklet containing the Policy Components can be found here.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

The Working Group’s latest discussion was centered around its restructuring, and touched on considerations for a revised ToR to accommodate the shift in focus from developing strategies to operationalizing them. The Working Group has also kickstarted discussions around the initiation process for one of the capacity building strategies, namely the identification and gathering of Good Agricultural Practices.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Working Group will soon be reviewing Traceability and Transparency Tools Comparison study to develop next steps as well as recommendations to the Executive Committee.

Download the October 2020 Working Groups Update Slide Deck for more details on the progress of each Working Group.

Although it had been more than a month since the GPSNR smallholder members had met at the international level, they took their places in the online meeting with a sense of familiarity that was heartening to see. 

We had come a long way since the first international call in late August. Since then, the second and third international calls had taken place, focusing on preparing the smallholders for the General Assembly. In the weeks after the General Assembly, the Country Champions helped to organise national-level calls for the smallholders to recap the results of the resolutions and Executive Committee (EC) elections, and to discuss topics of interest to be brought up during the fourth and final international call as part of the series.

The fourth international call was held in the evening of 22 October, and attended by smallholder members from all seven countries. The call began with an update from the three smallholder EC representatives on the EC calls that they had attended thus far. Overall, the representatives had positive takeaways from the EC meetings, despite some language barriers remaining. 

Next, the Co-Chairs of GPSNR’s various Working Groups joined the call in order to introduce each of their Working Groups and briefly explain key focuses and projects. This generated some questions around the policy equivalent for smallholder members, as well as GPSNR’s approach towards traceability for smallholder producers. Several smallholder members also expressed interest in participating in these Working Groups. The Secretariat will get in touch with all smallholders members to facilitate their inclusion in the platform’s Working Groups.

The final half hour of the call was dedicated to a discussion on smallholder community dynamics and how to manage the exchange of information within the category while understanding the geographical and linguistic differences amongst the clusters of smallholder members. 

This concludes the series of preparatory calls designed by the Smallholder Representation Working Group to prepare smallholders for their first GPSNR General Assembly and outcomes. But as the saying goes: when one door closes, another opens. And in this case, the door has opened for the newest membership category to define the parameters and mechanisms of their involvement within the platform, with the support of the Secretariat and fellow GPSNR members.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

Moving forward, a key focus of the Strategy and Objectives Working Group is to look at increasing Working Group alignment within the Platform. Considering the interconnected nature of the work and the plan for Working Group-level Theories of Change, there is merit in bringing the Co-Chairs of Working Groups together to explore how to create better alignment. To this end, the Working Group is considering activities for the end of the year to build unity and alignment across all Working Groups.

The Working Group is also developing a procedure to assess external programs that are brought forward for GPSNR’s support, either by member organizations or by Working Groups. This process will involve evaluating the measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the project and to what degree the project links to GPSNR’s Theory of Change. 

Under the Equity sub-Group, the Living Income Gap studies for Indonesia and Thailand are now underway following the award of the proposals to the selected bidders.  

Smallholder Representation Working Group

Prior to the General Assembly (GA), the Smallholder Representation Working Group had organised three international calls to prepare smallholders for the GA. A fourth international call will be held sometime mid-October. 

In the lead-up to this final international call, a round of national calls are being held with the help of the various Country Champions. During these national calls, smallholder members will be able to gather their thoughts around the GA, approved resolutions and Executive Committee election results, as well as to think collectively about the issues they would like to cover as a category during the international call, and, moving forward, the details of the engagement mechanism they wish to implement within the category.

Post-GA, the Smallholder Representation Working Group will explore how best to integrate members of the newest category into the various Working Groups. The Working Group is also looking at its exit strategy, having achieved the goals set out for it in its Terms of Reference document.   

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

Following the approval of the proposed policy framework, a multi-stakeholder Technical Working Group will be set up to draft the Implementation Guidance for member companies. 

Concurrently, the Working Group will also develop a policy equivalent and implementation guidance for smallholder producers, and civil society.   

The Shared Responsibility Working Group, whose creation was approved by the Executive Committee, will be established to identify how the responsibilities and costs of implementing sustainable natural rubber initiatives can be more equitably distributed across stakeholder categories. It will help to inform the development of the Implementation Guidance, while bearing in mind that whatever requirements are defined for smallholder members, those members should not carry the burden of a higher cost to implement sustainability activities and comply with the Policy or Implementation Guidance to be developed.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

At the end of July 2020, the Capacity Building Working Group had presented finalized capacity building strategies for four selected countries, to the Executive Committee.

For its next steps, the Working Group will be developing implementation guidelines and an evaluation framework. This will be crucial in ensuring that the various capacity building activities are put in place in a concise and effective manner leading to the outcomes framed in GPSNR’s Theory of Change. The Working Group will continue to discuss the feasibility and find consensus on an approach that relates to carbon compensation schemes around natural rubber. 

Finally, the Working Group will also refine its group structure to better address the changing roles and responsibilities it now faces.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Working Group has awarded the GIS Database and Mapping Tools study to the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the Traceability and Transparency Tools Comparison study to e-Audit Hong-Kong Limited (e-Audit). 

The studies are ongoing, and the Working Group will then use those studies to develop next steps as well as recommendations to the Executive Committee.

The Working Group will also be continuing conversations on risk-based approach methods to evaluating field-level legal, social and environmental risks.