INNA KNELSEN
ISCC System GmbH

Abstract

The last years showed that changes on the micro level alone can already have an impact if a critical mass backs this up as latest market data indicates an increase in the use of alternative feedstocks for chemicals. With the recent introduction of related legislation finally the biggest lever will impact global value chains tremendously further. However, crop-based raw materials can be associated with certain risks as deforestation practices. Voluntary sustainability certification schemes can be an important tool for companies to implement and monitor sustainability efforts and comply with upcoming regulatory demands. Understanding how those operate also builds the base for consumers trust in respective logos and seals. This article provides an overview of the ISCC PLUS standard operations.

Since several years regulators, civil society, and consumers push for sustainability initiatives with an accelerating speed. While we have to acknowledge that companies are increasingly considering environmental and social criteria in global supply chains – for instance via zero deforestation commitments (1) - the message we see in the media is clear: We are not doing enough and we are doing it too slow. Analyses of recent reports call out highest urgency for systemic changes in the way how we produce and consume our goods and services:

The latest IPCC reports show that despite the rising sustainability efforts in the diverse industries since 2010 net anthropogenic GHG emissions have increased across all analyzed sectors world-wide as have also cumulative net CO2 emissions since 1850. A significant amount of around 20% of total emissions can be attributed to net CO2 from land use, land-use change, forestry (CO2-LULUCF) (2). And although the speed of the deforestation rate has decreased since 1990, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that since then until 2020 around 420 million hectares were lost due to deforestati ...