How the smart mix can deliver sustainability at scale
One of the biggest challenges facing sustainability leaders today is scaling action. How do we shift from a few companies doing the right thing to transforming entire supply chains and sectors? And what does that look like in practice? These were the questions at the heart of ISEAL’s Sustainability Policy Forum in Brussels.
Policymakers, businesses, and sustainability experts gathered to explore how new sustainability regulations, voluntary sustainability systems, and business commitments can work together to drive meaningful impact. The message was clear: advancing sustainability needs partnership, accountability and smarter collaboration.
The Forum took place at a critical moment, as the EU faces pressure over perceived rollbacks to its Green Deal commitments. With global deadlines under the Paris Agreement and the SDGs fast approaching, speakers stressed that this is a pivotal time for Europe to demonstrate leadership.
The experience and expertise of voluntary approaches, tested and evolved over decades, are more important than ever.
Why Europe’s leadership is key
Opening the Forum, Heidi Hautala, former Vice President of the European Parliament, emphasised the urgent need for systemic change. Seven out of nine planetary boundaries have now been breached, she noted, underscoring that coordinated action from governments, businesses, and civil society is essential.
Hautala highlighted how the EU’s sustainability framework reflects the ‘smart mix’ principle – from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free products.
She stressed that frontrunner companies must be recognised and supported. She also highlighted the importance of policy coherence across the EU and the need to include producer countries in shaping international standards.
These messages summed up the Forum’s call for Europe to lead with clarity, fairness and ambition.
Balancing sustainability and competitiveness
A central theme in today’s European politics is how to make sustainability compatible with business competitiveness. Mathias Bach Kirkegaard from the Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU noted that sustainability shouldn’t be viewed as a cost, but as a source of long-term resilience and economic strength. For businesses to invest with confidence, three conditions are essential:
- harmonised rules across the EU
- legal certainty for investment
- a level playing field so responsible companies are not undercut.
Speakers repeatedly emphasised that sustainability is becoming a strategic advantage. At IKEA, for example, sustainability is integral to securing raw materials, safeguarding human rights, and strengthening the company’s long-term resilience.
The smart mix of regulation and voluntary tools must reinforce these goals, empowering business action without creating unnecessary barriers.
Trade impacts were another area where evidence is building. Dr Axel Marx, Deputy Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, noted that while early research often portrayed VSS as potential barriers to trade, more recent studies show a different reality: once producers are certified, many gain the capacity to access new markets.
Still, speakers acknowledge the challenges. Fragmented policies, conflicting standards, inconsistent reporting rules, and weak incentives can discourage companies from going beyond compliance. Suppliers in low- and middle-income countries also face rising costs without adequate support.
Addressing these barriers requires greater coherence, simplification without diluting ambition, and stronger cross-border partnerships – policy and voluntary action moving in step toward shared goals.
Voluntary schemes: testing, proving, driving change
Speakers from global voluntary sustainability systems, multilateral organisations, and industry initiatives emphasised the role these schemes play in bridging the gap between ambition and implementation. Jeff Milder from the Rainforest Alliance highlighted five ways companies are finding value in the voluntary side of the smart mix:
- Early action and innovation: sustainability systems often provide credible frameworks before regulation is in place.
- Global and cross-commodity approaches: tools like the OECD Guidelines help companies apply consistent standards across markets.
- Technical guidance: schemes translate broad expectations into practical steps tailored to different commodities and contexts.
- Collaboration spaces: landscape initiatives support shared solutions to systemic issues like deforestation and land rights.
- Consistency through uncertainty: sustainability systems help businesses stay on course when politics or markets shift.
Above all, speakers stressed that schemes must be judged on their credibility. Frameworks such as the ISEAL Credibility Principles can help businesses and policymakers make informed decisions about which systems to reference or partner with.
While companies must always retain legal responsibility for their actions, credible sustainability systems can provide the tools, processes and roadmap needed to meet obligations – and drive deeper, lasting impact.
The journey ahead
Looking ahead, participants agreed on several priorities for maintaining momentum. They called for coherent policy frameworks rather than isolated regulations, and for incentives and recognition, not just penalties, to encourage ambition. They emphasised the importance of involving producer countries in setting international standards, aligning sustainability with innovation and competitiveness, and improving the sharing of evidence on both sustainability systems’ performance and regulatory impacts.
As Amaryllis Verhoeven, Deputy Director & Head of Unit for Responsible Business Conduct at the European Commission (DG GROW), remarked: “We can’t rely on policy alone, or on voluntary action alone. We need both, working in step, listening to each other, and grounded in evidence.”
The sustainability transition is neither linear nor guaranteed. But with credible sustainability systems, smarter policy, and businesses committed to going beyond the minimum, Europe can stay on track with the Green Deal – and lead globally.
Vidya Rangan, ISEAL’s Policy and Engagement Director, noted that “the Forum was important in laying the foundation for continued engagement between voluntary sustainability systems and EU institutions in building policies that will shape the future of sustainability in Europe and globally.”
In this transition – like any effective partnership – progress depends on both sides moving together.