Deforestation equal to GMO soy and palm oil, child exploitation equal to palm oil e hazelnuts. To the two most well-known axioms, on the unsustainability of some food chains, there is a third that many still tend to ignore. Cocoa equals child labor - like already amply demonstrated - and also deforestation.
Big food, under the pressure of NGOs, therefore asks for the introduction of a specific EU regulation, to guarantee the sustainability of the supply chain. The giants who for centuries have been transforming and using the berry, too bitter to be ignored yet, acknowledge the ineffectiveness of the certifications adopted by some. (1) And without going into the details of their responsibilities - disguised through obscure intermediaries with local suppliers - they ask to make order through rules that escape greenwashing and competitiveness. Time to move on, here's how and why.
Cocoa and deforestation
Chocolate's Dark Secret: How the Cocoa Industry Destroys National Parks - the relationship published by the NGO Mighty Earth in September 2017 - highlighted the extent of deforestation linked to cocoa production in West Africa. Documenting the illegal destruction of primary forests in Ivory Coast national parks which were home to elephants, crocodiles, hippos and chimpanzees.
The Ivory Coast is the first cocoa supplier globally (around 42%), followed by Ghana (19%), Indonesia, Ecuador and Cameroon. In West Africa, cocoa is grown mainly on small family farms. About 2 million smallholders entrust their livelihoods to sales, with results that in many cases are too meager due to low remuneration and modest crop productivity.
Most of it of micro-farmers are neither encouraged nor able to invest in deforestation-free production systems. For lack of resources and knowledge of sustainable agricultural practices, which allow them to maintain the shade trees offered by nature, access high-yielding varieties, renew senescent and unproductive plants. Thus they tend rather to deforest to sow in more fertile soils, rather than renovating or rehabilitating existing plantations.
Certifications e greenwashing
Some farmers received support from private bodies, such as UTZ and Rainforest Alliance, which certify simulacra of sustainability. The certification of Rainforest Alliance, for example, postulates that a minimum of five native trees per hectare be maintained (and a 'green' coverage of 30%). Without guaranteeing any stop to deforestation, nor recognizing farmers the necessary premium to emancipate themselves from often extreme poverty. (2)
The logic hitherto adopted in the proven certification schemes it is therefore functional only business di Big food. For the express purpose of 'painting green' - greenwashing, in fact - the neo-colonial exploitation of ecosystems and workers. Exploitation of which the creator of Rainforest Alliance, the Unilever group, has age-old experience.
Il greenwashing then reaches its peak in self-referential certifications built at the table (literally, round table) by palmocrats and GMO soy giants. RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Food Production) and RTRS (Roundtable on Responsible Soy). Cards without any meaning, in the face of the systematic violation of fundamental human rights and the environment by certified companies. (3)
'Sustainability' certifications, critical elements
Private schemes subject to certifications that refer to hypothetical 'sustainability' - when referring to supply chains whose production is rooted in Low-Medium Income Countries (Low-Middle Income Countries, LMIC) - present serious problems where effective measures are not contemplated support for workers and local communities. Certifications that do not contemplate the fairness of the supply chain (eg Fair Trade) therefore present a series of critical elements:
1) First, certified supply chains now barely account for a tenth of global palm oil, tea and cocoa production. They are therefore scarce, often also irregular,
2) many certification schemes are inaccessible to small farmers, due to the costs associated with initial certification (adaptation of agricultural practices and documentation of procedures) and audits. In the absence of financial coverage and appreciable incentives for the change of paradigm compared to traditional uses,
3) large groups are witnessing the phenomenon of shopping forum. That is to say, the search for certification schemes with less restrictive parameters. Greenwashing only in formal support of the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), instead of CSV (Contributing to Social Values),
4) controls on new deforestation activities aimed at expanding the areas of 'certified' production are scarce (a euphemism). Thus triggering the ecocides that the certifications themselves, in theory, should mitigate,
5) Certification systems can actually lead to lasting changes in land use, but the substantial impacts of these changes may not be immediately observable. First, the certification of commodity crops appeared after the certification for forests and fisheries.
Traceability, this unknown
True traceability of individual supplies of raw materials - even if their production is extremely fragmented into tiny plots - is the cunconditional sine qua non to combat deforestation and the exploitation of children on plantations. A great challenge so far succeeded by the very few responsible operators who have decided to engage on the front of the fair trade instead of just 'painting green' their most POP business (Profit Over People).
Sustainability of the cocoa supply chain, the request for an EU regulation
12 among the protagonists of cocoa and chocolate production - in response to the growing concerns of the international community about the sustainability of the cocoa supply chain - had agreed, in March 2017, a collective commitment. Work together, in collaboration with the governments of producing countries and other stakeholders, to end deforestation and environmental degradation related to cocoa production. This commitment was renewed in Bonn, at the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), in November 2017.
Only three giants - Barry Callebaut, Mars Wrigley and Mondelēz International (4) - have joined fairtrade international, Rainforest Alliance e VOICENetwork. (5) To highlight, in a document published on 2.12.19, the inability of voluntary initiatives to achieve the sustainability objectives in the supply chain of cocoa. (6) And ask for the adoption of binding legal instruments by the European Union, as the world's largest importer of cocoa.
EU has a greater ability than any other consumer market to drive change in the cocoa sector. It therefore has opportunities and responsibilities and demonstrate its leadership, including through legislative action, to address these issues. Our ultimate goal is a fully sustainable cocoa supply chain that provides adequate income to cocoa farmers and reduces human rights violations, including child labor and environmental degradation, to the point of eliminating. (5)
Sustainable cocoa, what rules?
The coalition of the signatories of the document ask for a European regulation, to be accompanied by multilateral agreements between producer countries and the EU. (7) The proposed approach is that of due diligence, inspired by the UN Guiding Principles on 'business and human rights'. I 'Ruggie Principles', named after Professor John Ruggie of Harvard University who developed them, they were unanimously adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. (8)
I Guiding Principles of the UN start from the consideration of a shared responsibility between multinationals and the States in which they operate, as regards the impact of their activities on human rights. They take into account the principles of international law, but also national regulatory experiences and existing voluntary standards. (9) And they base their operations on the three pillars'Protect, Respect and Remedy'.
Socio-environmental sustainability, from words to deeds
In practice, all operators in the supply chain from bean to chocolate cream they should carry out a preliminary assessment of the impact of their operations on human rights and the environment. Adopt 'responsible' policies aimed at interrupting, preventing and mitigating negative impacts, publishing annual reports on the activities performed and their results, providing or collaborating with 'remediation' mechanisms where appropriate.
From words to deeds, the Guiding Principles they still lack an effective cogency, for the States as well as for the operators. All of which are in fact simply 'invited', rather than called to responsibility. In practice - as shown by the application of the EU regulation which should guarantee the environmental sustainability of timber supplies (7) - the only mandatory requirements pertain to the form, that is to the procedures adopted. Instead of the substance, that is to say respect for fundamental rights.
Pressure from below can therefore once again represent the solution to a system of business neo-colonial. 87% of European consumers - according to the survey carried out in May 2019 by Greenpeace, WWF, YouGov, the Environmental Investigation Agency and FERN - do not want to be complicit in the ongoing deforestation. (10)
Citizens and consumers Europeans should therefore in turn learn to perform responsible purchasing choices, leaving cocoa-based products on the shelf that do not offer suitable guarantees of socio-environmental sustainability. And insist on politics From farm to fork (f2f) announced by Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen also expresses herself in the affirmation of responsibilities, duties and prohibitions, dissuasive sanctions.
The Dark Side of Chocolate, (11) enough now!
# Égalité!
Dario Dongo and Giulia Caddeo
Footnotes
(1)Hamish van der Vena et al. (2018). Do eco-labels prevent deforestation? Lessons from non-state market driven governance in the soy, palm oil, and cocoa sectors. Global Environmental Change 52 141-151, Elsevier, p. 143
(2) Sophia Carodenuto (2019). Governance of zero deforestation cocoa in West Africa: New forms of public – private interaction. Wiley, Env Pol Gov. 2019; 29: 55–66. Doi: 10.1002 / eet. 1841, pp. 56-59
(3) On RSPO see also https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/olio-di-palma-rapina-delle-terre-e-deforestazioni-un-milione-di-ettari-sfugge-ai-registri-di-rspo-denuncia-la-zoological-society-of-london
(4) Mondelēz International is one of the Corporation most affected downstream of the fires in Indonesia, according to the recent Greenpeace report. V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/indonesia-incendi-e-olio-di-palma-certificato-rspo-rapporto-greenpeace
(5) Voice Network it is a catalyst for NGOs and supply chain representatives who aspire to reform the cocoa sector. Its members are ABVV / FGTB-Horval, Be Slavery Free, EFFAT, FERN, FNV, Green America, Inkota Netzwerk, International Labor Rights Forum, Mighty Earth, Oxfam Novib, Oxfam Wereldwinkels, Public Eye, Solidaridad, Südwind Institut
V. Joint position paper on the EU's policy and regulatory approach to cocoa, 2.12.19, at https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Joint-position-paper-on-the-EUs-policy-and-regulatory-approach-to-cocoa. pdf
(6) Many initiatives are linked to the REDD + program, 'Reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, sustainable forest management, conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries'. REDD +, introduced in 2005 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/progresso/deforestazioni-l-ue-rispetti-gli-impegni
(7) The approach of due diligence sectoral was adopted for the so-called conflict minerals (EU reg. 2017/821) and wood (EU reg. 995/10). With poor results unfortunately. V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/deforestazione-made-in-italy-buycott
(8) A guiding principles on business and human rights, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf
(9) In this regard, the ISO 20400: 2017 Guidelines on the cd are cited sustainable procurement, (sustainable procurement), which expressly refer to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the UN Agenda 2030. With specific regard to the issues Human Rights, Labor Practices e Environment. v. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/progresso/iso-20400-linee-guida-per-l-approvvigionamento-da-filiere-sostenibili
(11) V. Miki Mastrati and U. Roberto Romero (2010). Documentary film The dark side of chocolate su http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/dark-side-of-chocolate
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in law, master in Food, Law & Finance. You have explored the theme of green procurement and urban food policies in the International Cooperation and Peace sector of the City of Turin.
