Forming an alliance of global sustainability organisations to share risk information

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Overview
Learnings
Impact

Introduction

Project details

Project lead: Sustainable Biomass Program

Project partner: Preferred by Nature

Duration: January 2024 - June 2026

Sector focus: Global

Geographical focus: Global

Overview

This project saw several organisations join forces in setting up and working as the Risk Information Alliance (RIA) to produce credible, high-quality risk data covering diverse commodities, sectors, and geographies - pooling resources and expertise to encourage the sharing of risk data in a credible and consistent way. Learn more about the RIA and how to get involved.

The increasing demands for corporate due diligence and responsible business practices, driven by new laws in major commodity markets, have created a complex and costly landscape for companies and sustainability systems.

In response, companies typically act independently, without collaboration or data sharing, resulting in the duplication of efforts, disproportionate financial capabilities, and higher likelihood of inconsistent findings. This project sought to promote collective data sharing to inform action.

Learnings

Key to this project was the collation of each organisation’s risk assessment methodologies and indicators, in order to develop a comprehensive framework for adoption across RIA members. Pilot risk assessments were then conducted across multiple sectors (rubber, cocoa, timber) to test and refine the new framework.

Each new member and risk assessment provided an opportunity for review and continuous improvement, and generated insights as to how prescriptive the approach should be, while allowing flexibility for context-specific and subjective assessments.

Early activities to establish the RIA also resulted in rich learnings around the complexities of operations, governance and fundraising. The RIA Steering Committee have successfully developed a governance structure, key policies and procedures, and a roadmap for future activities. Importantly, time was dedicated early on to consultation with members on their priorities and motivations for the RIA, to help position its relevance for existing and future members.

Impact

The project delivered clear value, with the robust methodology, indicators and supporting guidance improving the quality and credibility of the piloted risk assessments. Alliance members reported that the value of the RIA was in how it facilitated cross-organisational discussions, learning, and supported consistency of assessments.

While the team had originally envisaged creating a platform to facilitate the sharing of data during the project, it was instead decided to prioritise laying solid operational foundations for the Alliance, including establishing a functional Steering Committee, Management Team and Technical Committee, and delivering Risk Assessments. This has left the RIA with a clear roadmap of next steps including fundraising and engaging new members, as well as clarity on what the data-sharing platform will look like in the future.

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Supported by

The ISEAL Innovations Fund is supported by Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and UK International Development from the UK Government.