Abstract
Natural rubber is grown on 12 million hectares of tropical land; about the same as coffee. Yet whereas coffee was a pioneer commodity in the sustainability movement and it has become embedded in the sector, rubber has hardly progressed beyond the inception stage. The need for improved economic, social and environmental practices is as strong as in any commodity. Major companies holding concessions have been exposed for unacceptable practices towards local communities and clearing of natural forest. A large majority of producers are smallholders, whose yields are below the potential volume and quality that could be obtained with improved harvesting and processing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Personal communication, SNR-I Chair of Working Group.
- 2.
ILO Convention No. 169 of 27 June 1989 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, in force 5 September 1991, 72 ILO Official Bull. 59 (1989); reprinted in 1650 UNTS 383; reprinted in 28 I.L.M. 1382 (1989).
- 3.
General Assembly Resolution 61/295, U.N. Doc. A/RES/61/295.
- 4.
See also Sect. 26.2.2 of the previous chapter for the definition of ‘High Conservation Value’.
- 5.
Personal communication, SNR-I Chair of Working Group.
- 6.
The Rainforest Alliance’s longstanding partner, the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), which owns the 2017 SAN Standard, has granted the Rainforest Alliance (RA) an exclusive and perpetual license to the 2017 SAN Standard. Also, in August 2017, the RA and the SAN signed an agreement for the transfer of ownership of the shared SAN/RA certification system entirely to the Rainforest Alliance. The RA became the sole owner and operator of the certification scheme on 1 January 2018.
- 7.
Personal communication, market specialist, Rainforest Alliance.
References
Ahrends A, Hollingsworth PM, Ziegler AD, Fox JM, Chen H, Su Y, Xu J (2015) Current trends of rubber plantation expansion may threaten biodiversity and livelihoods. Global Environ Change 34:48–58
Aidenvironment (2016) How prices drive natural rubber producers into poverty: an overview of sustainability issues and solutions in the rubber sector. http://www.aidenvironment.org/news/low-prices-drive-natural-rubber-producers-into-poverty/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
ANRPC – Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (2014) About ANRPC. http://www.anrpc.org/html/default.aspx?ID=4&PID=5. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Arunmas P (2015) Vietnam urged to join rubber consortium. Bangkok Post. https://www.bangkokpost.com/archive/vietnam-urged-to-join-rubber-consortium/623984. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
BASF (2018) Latex coagulation with formic acid from BASF. http://www.intermediates.basf.com/chemicals/formic-acid/latex-coagulation. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
BirdLife International (2008) State of the world’s birds: Indicators for our changing world. http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/docs/SOWB2008_en.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
DanWatch (2013) Behind the rubber label: social and working conditions in Asia’s rubber plantations. https://old.danwatch.dk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Behind-the-rubber-label.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Davis B (2014) Bridgestone ranks as world’s top tire producer again. Rubber and Plastics News. http://www.rubbernews.com/article/20140908/NEWS/309089973. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
ETRMA – European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (2017) European tyre and rubber industry statistics: Edition 2016. http://www.etrma.org/uploads/Modules/Documentsmanager/20161208%2D%2D-statistics-booklet-2016-final5.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
FSC – Forest Stewardship Council (2015) Global Witness v Vietnam Rubber Group. https://ic.fsc.org/en/what-is-fsc/what-we-do/dispute-resolution/archived-cases/vietnam-rubber-group-vrg. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
General Motors (2017) GM works to set sustainable natural rubber tires into motion. https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2017/may/0515-tires.html. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Global Witness (2013) Rubber Barons. https://www.globalwitness.org/campaigns/land-deals/rubberbarons/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Global Witness (2015) Guns, cronies and crops. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-deals/guns-cronies-and-crops/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Guardian Development Network (2013) Ivory Coast farmers abandon cassava for more lucrative rubber. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/feb/28/ivory-coast-farmers-cassava-rubber. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
HCSA – High Carbon Stock Approach (2018) The High Carbon Stock Approach. http://highcarbonstock.org/the-high-carbon-stock-approach/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
HCV Resource Network – High Conservation Value Resource Network (2018) How it works: we protect what matters the most. https://hcvnetwork.org/how-it-works/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
International Finance Corporation (2012) Performance Standards: 2012 Edition. http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/Topics_Ext_Content/IFC_External_Corporate_Site/Sustainability-At-IFC/Policies-Standards/Performance-Standards. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
IRSG – International Rubber Study Group (2016a) Opening presentation to Focus Forum on Sustainability, held in Singapore, 10th May 2016
IRSG – International Rubber Study Group (2016b) World Rubber Industry Outlook. http://www.rubberstudy.com/news-article.aspx?id=5106&b=default.aspx. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Ives M (2013) The rise of rubber takes toll on forests of Southwest China. https://e360.yale.edu/features/the_rise_of_rubber_takes_toll_on_forests_of_southwest_china/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Kose O, Veillard X, Harneja A (2014) Extracting value from natural rubber trading markets: optimizing marketing, procurement and hedging for producers and customers. Accenture. https://www.accenture.com/t20150523T032721__w__/sg-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/DotCom/Documents/Global/PDF/Dualpub_6/Accenture-ATIOS-Publication-Natural-Rubber-Trading-Markets.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Michelin (2015) Joint-venture to produce natural, eco-friendly rubber. https://www.michelin.com/en/press-releases/joint-venture-to-produce-natural-eco-friendly-rubber/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Michelin (2016) Sustainable natural rubber policy: reference document, 2016 Edition. http://michelinmedia.com/site/user/files/1/SUSTAINABLE-NATURAL-RUBBER-POLICY_VD.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Michelin (2018a) Highlights: 2017 annual results. https://www.michelin.com/en/finance/regulated-information/annual-results/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Michelin (2018b) The tire digest: materials. http://thetiredigest.michelin.com/an-unknown-object-the-tire-materials. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Olam International (2018) Rubber: sustainability. http://olamgroup.com/products-services/industrial-raw-materials/rubber/sustainability/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Peramune MR, Budiman AFS (2007) A value chain assessment of the rubber industry in Indonesia. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Jakarta. http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnadl492.pdf. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Research in China (2017) Global and China Natural Rubber Industry Report, 2017–2021. Report ID: 4126832. https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4376309/global-and-china-natural-rubber-industry-report. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Ruf F (2015) Diversification of Cocoa Farms in Côte d’Ivoire: complementarity of and competition from rubber rent. In: Ruf F, Schroth G (eds) Economics and ecology of diversification: the case of Tropical Tree Crops. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 41–86
UN – United Nations (2015) Transforming our World: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, A/RES/70/1
Union of Concerned Scientists (2016) What’s driving deforestation? https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/whats-driving-deforestation. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Warren-Thomas E, Dolman PM, Edwards DP (2015) Increasing demand for natural rubber necessitates a robust sustainability initiative to mitigate impacts on tropical biodiversity. Conserv Lett 8(4):230–241
World Cocoa Foundation (2017) Cocoa & Forests initiative. http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/cocoa-forests-initiative/. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
WWF and RSPB (2017) Risky business: understanding the UK’s overseas footprint for deforestation-risk commodities. https://www.wwf.org.uk/riskybusiness. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Millard, E. (2019). Recent Experiences from the Natural Rubber Industry and Its Movement Towards Sustainability. In: Schmidt, M., Giovannucci, D., Palekhov, D., Hansmann, B. (eds) Sustainable Global Value Chains. Natural Resource Management in Transition, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14877-9_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14877-9_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14876-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14877-9
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)