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Role of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Addressing India’s Growing Forest Footprint

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Business Responsibility and Sustainability in India

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Indian Management ((PAIM))

Abstract

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) influence global value chains and many of them are directly contributing to the responsible management of world’s forests and minimising the forest footprints. Trade in forest risk commodities such as timber, paper and pulp, palm oil and soybean oil increases forest footprint. This chapter analyses the role of VSS in addressing India’s growing forest footprint. It discusses the forestry sector in India, the policy context for forest certification and government initiatives, and describes the uptake of different VSS in the sector including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). It argues that with adequate policy support and fiscal incentives at national level, the VSS can scale up faster, contribute to the market access and minimise the forest footprint besides contributing to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Standards (UNFSS), Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are rules that producers, traders, manufacturers, retailers or service providers may be asked to follow so that the things they make, grow or do don’t hurt people and the environment.

  2. 2.

    The Consumer Goods Forum comprises of more than 400 companies which made a public commitment in 2010 on achieving zero-net deforestation by 2020 through the sustainable sourcing of commodities like soy, palm oil, cattle and paper and pulp.

  3. 3.

    The concept of “Forest risk commodities” was introduced in 2013 in a Global Canopy Project implemented by the Global Canopy, an environmental organisation.

  4. 4.

    These WTO provisions include Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary (SPS) Agreements.

  5. 5.

    The three key elements included in Trade and Environment negotiations under WTO Doha Declaration 2011 are (i) Relationship between WTO rules and Multilateral Environmental Agreements; (ii) the collaboration between WTO and MEA secretariats and (iii) elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers on environmental goods and services.

  6. 6.

    UNFSS is coordinated by steering committee of five UN agencies, namely, FAO, The International Trade Centre, UNCTAD, UNEP and UNIDO.

  7. 7.

    India is one of the ten most forested nations in the world.

  8. 8.

    Forest footprint disclosure project identifies timber, soy, beef and leather, palm oil and biofuels as key forest risk commodities by the Global Canopy.

  9. 9.

    Examples given in the report include Malaysia (in particular Sarawak) (logs), Indonesia (pulp), China (furniture and paper), Myanmar (logs), Tanzania (logs), Russia (paper) and PNG (logs).

  10. 10.

    Both central and state governments can legislate on the items in the concurrent list. However, in case of any conflict between the central and state laws, the laws enacted by the central government override the laws enacted by the state government.

  11. 11.

    The focus of National Forest Policy 1952, the first forest policy of independent India, was on the management of forests for sustained production of timber. In 1976, the National Commission on Agriculture recommended a dynamic programme of production forestry.

  12. 12.

    All Indian states have passed land ceiling acts imposing the maximum size of land holding an individual or family can own.

  13. 13.

    EU-FLEGT Action Plan was launched in 2003. Voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) are part of the action plan. EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) came into effect on 3 March 2013.

  14. 14.

    FSC was founded in 1993 in first FSC general assembly in Toronto, Canada, and registered as not-for-profit international organisation (Forest Stewardship Council Association Civil) in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1994. FSC International’s headquarter moved from Mexico to Bonn, Germany, in 2003.

  15. 15.

    The certificate was terminated in 2016.

  16. 16.

    Position Paper on Forest Certification, WWF International.

  17. 17.

    A meeting to formulate the FSC National Working Group in India was held in the conference in 2009.

  18. 18.

    These include Madhya Pradesh Forest Corporation, Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation, Tripura Forest Development Corporation and Maharashtra Forest Department.

  19. 19.

    The Chhattisgarh Certification Society, INDIA (for Forestry and Agriculture), for certification was registered on 18 September 2003 as an autonomous and independent society under the Chhattisgarh Society Registration Act, 1973.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Stewardship Council, New Delhi, India

    T. R. Manoharan

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  1. T. R. Manoharan
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Correspondence to T. R. Manoharan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Bimal Arora

  2. Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Pawan Budhwar

  3. Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK

    Divya Jyoti

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Manoharan, T.R. (2019). Role of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Addressing India’s Growing Forest Footprint. In: Arora, B., Budhwar, P., Jyoti, D. (eds) Business Responsibility and Sustainability in India. Palgrave Studies in Indian Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13716-8_4

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