There are a myriad of sustainability claims in the market today. The ISEAL Sustainability Claims Good Practice Guide was developed through a multi-stakeholder consultation process to define good practice for scheme owners in setting and managing claims about their standards system.

The document at the bottom of this page provides a high level summary of what polygon location data is and why it is of significant value to sustainability standards. It aims to encourage decision makers within systems to consider the operational collection and use of polygon data within their organisations.

Six years ago, ISEAL published a comprehensive review and synthesis of existing literature and evidence of the business benefits of using sustainability standards.

There is wide recognition that the ongoing pandemic has had a profound impact on women across all dimensions of economic and social activity. From shifting gender roles within the household to effects on women’s active role in the economy and the real health and well-being effects of the pandemic, there is a growing concern that women are ‘losing out’ severely. From the standpoint of sustainability standards and systems, the pandemic has opened up the opportunity to review many streams of work, including how they conduct their assurance activities.

This case study forms part of the Rainforest Alliance project Use of Risk Maps for Child and Forced Labour in Risk-Based Assurance Processes, supported by the ISEAL Innovations Fund. The project sought to test the prototypes of sectoral risk maps for child labor and forced labor in Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Honduras.

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) are increasingly directly and indirectly referenced in trade policy. They are integrated into various policy instruments, including market access and due diligence regulations, FTAs, public procurement policies, and export promotion strategies. This report details the use of VSSs and serves as a practical guide for how to assess the credibility of various VSSs and make informed decisions on which standards to integrate into trade policies.

FPIC-360° is an Equitable Origin initiative in partnership with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin (COICA).  The FPIC-360° Tool for monitoring and verifying free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is a multi-pronged tool, founded on the premise that FPIC can only be conducted responsibly and successfully if the Indigenous Peoples affected by a proposed project are co-owners and implementers of the entire process, from design, through implementation and monitoring phases.

This resource explores the concept of adopting a holistic and interconnected framework for managing and utilising data. It highlights how a digital ecosystem approach facilitates collaboration and data sharing across various stakeholders and systems to address complex challenges like ensuring sustainability through origin traceability. 

This document identifies the Traceability and Chain of Custody options available for improvers' products, as identified through the ASC Improver Programme pilot. 

This report looks at the issues facing small certified producers and their expectations and experiences of certification, and explores how standards can address producers’ needs and priorities.

Amidst today’s geopolitical turmoil and structural adjustments, it’s crucial to continue supporting businesses advancing their sustainability strategies. Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) are there to help, with years of experience on the ground and continuously improving and expanding their offer. The International Trade Centre (ITC) and ISEAL organised a joint webinar to discuss the different ways in which VSS deliver value to businesses, and what are useful criteria to determine how credible a VSS is.

This document provides practical guidance for sustainability systems to support them in generating valuable and actionable insights from data. Utilizing concepts in data science, it is intended for sustainability systems seeking to maximise the value of their data, combine data sources, and enable improved data-driven decision making procedures.

This user manual has been created as part of the Tech4Communities: Hybrid Community-based Monitoring system (HCMS) project. The project seeks to create a hybrid “remote” and “on the ground” monitoring and evaluation programme to support data gathering and management at a landscape level.

In this video, small producers report on the impact sustainability standards have had on their life. 

This report includes a comparison of the International Water Stewardship Standard (AWS Standard) and the Regional Competitiveness Framework of the Sustainable District Association in Indonesia (LTKL), with recommendations to improve alignment for better water stewardship at jurisdictional level.

This report includes a comparison of the International Water Stewardship Standard (AWS Standard) and the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) Policy Framework, with recommendations to improve water stewardship in the natural rubber sector.

This report includes a comparison of the International Water Stewardship Standard (AWS Standard) and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil Principles and Criteria (RSPO P&C), with recommendations to improve alignment for better water stewardship in the oil palm sector.

Webinar on key concepts in the development of a Theory of Change (ToC) for standard systems.

This webinar looks at the critical factors that help independent assurance programmes be credible and effective. Member examples, including RSPO, are used.

This resource includes the recording of the Webinar: ISEAL guidance to support remote auditing practices; Overview, Discussion and Next steps

Juan Isaza, Program Manager, explains what the IPM Coalition is and how this initiative will accelerate the elimination of highly hazardous pesticide usage throughout the world.

This resource includes the recording, slides and agenda of the first learning workshop of the remote auditing project.

This ASI research report identified possible approaches, good auditing practices, and potential areas for alignment between sustainability standards and has been presented in a webinar.

'The changing nature of trust and the role of credible standards' presented by Karin Kreider, ISEAL’s Executive Director, Joe Wozniak from International Trade Centre and Philip Schleifer from University of Amsterdam.

This webinar shows how a focus on data and information management in assurance can improve both the effectiveness of the assurance process and the value of that process for certifying enterprise, supply chain actors and the scheme owners themselves.