It will help service providers in the US respond to the sustainability requirements of large purchasers, such as US General Services Administration (GSA) who are obliged by White House Executive Order 13514 (PDF) to become greener purchasers. Brennan Conaway from GSA states “As a protocol that is applicable to all service provider types and sectors, NSF P391 could be used to support our customers by identifying services that comply with E.O. 13514”.

NSF P391 evaluates the sustainability of a service provider in three key areas: Environment impact – energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions;  Labor impact – health and safety, employment practices; and  Social responsibility impact – community assessment.

Organizations can earn NSF P391 certification at the Conformant, Silver, Gold or Platinum level; and once certified, can display the NSF Sustainability Certified Mark in their advertising and marketing.

All kinds of services can apply to meet the new standard.; and we can predict that those selling to the Fed’s will be the first in line.

The ratings will be communicated with marketing materials found in-store later this year; and consumers will be able to access more detailed information about the ratings online.

So what’s behind it? So far, its quite hard to find anything else out about it – save that it was developed by BSR and ATT together (so not an open process);  that has 15 criteria (we don’t know how or why they were selected, nor what they are); and that it will be based on manufacturers declarations (so doesn’t appear to include any  independent verification).

Transparency tools should also be transparent – so – details please!

One option is to go for newer, cleaner products that are so ahead of the curve that a standard has yet to be created. Think cleantech. Should purchasers be helping forge new markets for the super-green products? What are the risks and benefits of doing so?

Our research partners University of Minnesota and The Sustainability Consortium are running a webinar on exactly this topic on Feb 21, 2012 — “Procurement in Sustainability: from buying green products to creating green solutions”. The webinar is free and open for registration.

Nancy Gillis from the US General Services Administration (one of the world’s largest purchasers); Kevin Dooley from The Sustainability Consortium and Tim Smith from the University of Minnesota will be exploring existing and potential procurement efforts in designing, prototyping and testing new products and services with suppliers; and commercializing the successes through standardization and large scale buying.

Only organic products of U.S. or EU origin are included – that is products that have been either been produced within the U.S. or EU or whose final processing or packaging occurs within the U.S. or EU.  So foreign sources are allowed, so long as its been processed or packaged (and therefore certified) in the US or EU.

NPR report that USDA officials predict that US organic exports to Europe will triple within three years.

Two notable exclusions point to some differences between the standards:

1. US crops produced using antibiotics (streptomycin for fire blight control in apples and pears) must not be shipped to the EU under the arrangement.

2. European Agricultural products derived from animals treated with antibiotics shall not be marketed as organic in the United States.

It’s great to see that they didn’t let those differences hold up the final agreement, and that ongoing work will be done between the programmes to bring the standards closer.

The results of their study are summarized in an excellent article on GreenBiz that cites Ecolabel Index. They found most companies pursue ecolabeling and certification for one of four reasons:

-Many companies use them to maintain market share in various US states whose purchasing guidelines require certification.

-Others achieve them so they can win large institutional contracts.

-Some use them as a way raise their sustainability profile and green their supply chains.

-Others pursue labels that align with their brand and promote the company’s image.

While there are many reasons to pursue certification and ecolabeling, many executives expressed frustration with the number of labels and standards, as they lead to consumer confusion. This has caused some companies to decide not to proceed with certification while others are very wary of which labels and certifiers they choose to work with. A complete list of the qualities and preferences of desirable certifiers is in the GreenBiz article.

Currently the greatest demand for certification is in the B2B space, where companies are more aware of the advantages of greening their organization. However, moving forward Deloitte is predicting a shift from to the B2C space in the United States as consumers gradually shift their preferences towards sustainable products.

A number of executives also expressed interest in alternate methods of driving sustainability and marketing those efforts. For example a business could launch an educational campaign around sustainability products for their stakeholders or create an internal standard that governs the decisions made in their supply chain. Another interesting example is companies that achieve ecolabel certification but do not display the label, because they feel it lacks consumer awareness. While ecolabels and certification schemes are certainly growing, there is still no universally successful way to communicate green efforts to consumers and experimentation is sure to continue.

The conference is comprised of a number of panel discussions and seminars hosted by world leading environmentalists, sustainability advocates, policy makers, government representatives, academics, diplomatic envoys, private sector captains of industries, international financiers, and philanthropists. They will touch upon a number of different topics ranging from limiting green house gas emissions to dealing with the emergence of new producing regions like West Africa and Latin America. They will also cover ecolabeling issues like transparency, communications and environmental claims as well as trade and traceability.

This initiative comes in the wake of widespread allegations of environmental harm and deception perpetrated by major corporations in the palm oil business. Greenpeace has slammed the palm oil industry for tearing up forests, emitting greenhouse gasses and endangering wildlife. The Guardian and Rainforest News have both recently ran pieces accusing the industry of violently removing people from their villages and destroying their homes as well as running a ruthless greenwashing campaign to alter public opinion.

While it remains to be seen if such fraudulence is endemic to the industry or the actions of a few rogue companies, the RSPO is certainly making strides to raise awareness and achieve sustainable goals in the sector. The RSPO has 723 members that produce 5.2 millions tonnes of palm oil. A recent summary revealed that 87 of the 132 major palm oil purchasers have pledged to use 100% Certified Sustainable Palm Oil by 2015. This is a sharp increase from 2009 when only 10 of 59 corporations vowed to buy palm oil with the ecolabel’s certification.

The app is a mobile version of Consumer Reports’ www.greenerchoices.org, a platform of information about ecolabels and environmentally friendly products as well as green shopping tips and the best practices for recycling harmful products like electronics.

This development is another major milestone for the environmental certification sector. While many consumers are aware of ecolabels and their varying degrees of validity, few consumers know specifically which labels are the most robust. With this app, shoppers will not need to do background research and remember the components of various labels. All they need to do is bring their phone with them when they go to the grocery store.

This app is an important step in increasing the transparency of production and convenience for shoppers. However, it is still unlikely that this development will produce widespread changes in consumption patterns. Downloading the app requires consumers to be predisposed to buying ecolabeled products. For major transformations to occur, consumers that currently do not consider the environmental implications of what they buy must be gradually taught to do so. Shoppers have to be bombarded with messages about the importance of green purchasing before major consumption shifts occur.

We have spent the last few weeks emailing organizations with an invitation to manually update their profiles. So far, 125 labels have updated their information, out of the 426 in our database today — a great result — and we’re grateful to the organisations that have taken the time to update their profiles.

If you have received an email from us, please do not hesitate to update your Ecolabel Index profile. And remember — free access to the full Ecolabel Index PRO site is also available to all ecolabelling organisations — so get in touch if you’d like access.

It’s essential that our information is as accurate as possible. If you have not been contacted and would like to be part of this service, please contact support@ecolabelindex.com.

UTZ Certified and Rainforest Alliance are two labels that are leading the way in the impoverished region. Between 2009 and 2010, UTZ saw a 56% rise in the number of bags of certified coffee sold, while Rainforest Alliance posted a 41% increase between 2003 and 2009.

This is not only good news for certified coffee lovers, but great for the African farmers who receive more money for their products. The premium that consumers pay for certified coffee is passed on to the farmer, providing a strong incentive for ecolabel use.

The rising certification trend would continue if it weren’t for the rampant violence in many prime coffee-growing areas like the Congo. During political strife, resources are diverted, transportation routes are broken and government funding evaporates leading foreign multinationals to divert their assets elsewhere.

Nevertheless, the future for farmers is bright, as increased certification can only help. The effects may already be seen as Uganda is in the midst of a coffee price boom, with per kilogram prices rising in the last few months. If the violence can be curbed, especially in agricultural regions, there is every reason to be optimistic, as certification rates should continue to rise.

Note: Updated Nov. 10, paragraph 3 ‘organic’ changed to ‘certified’.

Mexico initially filed the case contending they were being barred from the US market because of the Dolphin Safe label. Mexico’s tuna industry was crippled when Mexican-caught fish could not obtain the Dolphin Safe label, causing US tuna brands to exclude them.

The consequences of this decision remain to be seen, as the US retains its right to appeal. This decision was met with criticism from environmental groups, who see this as proof that the WTO is putting environmental concerns on the back-burner in favor of trade laws.

In the wake of this decision, is it possible that more businesses will file lawsuits against ecolabels, using similar arguments? If so, lawmakers may have to make difficult decisions regarding where to draw the line between commercial interests and the environment.