Led by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, New Earth and UN Environment, this working group was launched in 2016, bringing together experts in the field to develop a white paper on Business to Consumer (B2C) communication of products' social impacts, with existing good practices. The white paper will be published in 2018. To find out more, email ciscp@un.org.
Implemented in
- Africa
- Asia / Pacific
- Europe and Central Asia
- Latin America / Caribbean
- Middle East
- North America
Sector of activity
Consumer Goods
Type of initiative
Education & Awareness Raising, Research, Analysis, Assessment, Other
Type of lead actors
United Nations / intergovernmental organizations, Scientific and Technical
Start date
08/05/2017
Submitted on:
08/05/2017Objectives
The primary output of this group, a white paper on social impact communication, aims to help private and public sector actors to develop and to improve the communication of the social impacts of products’ life cycles, to consumers (B2C) and value chain partners (B2B). It identifies relevant principles, criteria and means to communicate such impacts, including recommendations on integrating social impact communication with more well-established environmental impact communication tools.
The target audience is primarily companies but also labelling organizations, policy makers and other organisations working in the area.
In this paper, social impacts are understood to be the consequences of positive or negative pressures on the well-being of stakeholders in a product’s life cycle (from cradle to grave) or one of its phases (production, consumption or disposal) (Benoît Norris C. et al, 2009). The focus is on impacts at product level, rather than at the level of a company or brand. However, it is important to keep in mind the overlap between product life cycle impacts and companies’ wider supply chain impacts.
The paper is intended to link to the 10YFP Consumer Information Programme’s draft Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information.
Activities
White paper under development, with input from expert institutions and individuals via webinars and consultations.
Impact and Results
White paper to be published 2018.
Next steps and how to get involved
Contact CISCP@unep.org