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
As collected through the One Planet Reporting
Output level
Knowledge resource and technical tool
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Mapping report on the assessment and communication of products' social impacts
Mapping report on the assessment and communication of products' social impacts
Regions
Global / All regions
Lead organization
UN Environment
Objective
This scoping study assesses the key developments, gaps and best practices in relation to the social impacts of products. This includes indicators and methodologies used to assess such impacts across the life cycle of products, and the tools used to communicate these impacts to consumers. The study provides recommendations for action to improve the communication of social impacts to consumers. Specifically, recommendations are made for work to be undertaken under a working group of the 10YFP Consumer Information Programme for Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP CI-SCP).
Achievements
The exercise covers social LCA methodologies, non-LCA social indicators and social data sources, ecolabels and voluntary sustainability standards (VSS). Opportunities to improve existing consumer information tools through social metrics and LCA tools (software, social databases, etc.) are assessed. The following social metrics of products and social data sources, and a selection of the most common 'on- pack' consumer information tools - namely ecolabels and voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) - are assessed: Methodologies/metrics: The UNEP/SETAC guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment of products; the UNEP/SETAC Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in Social Life Cycle Assessment; the Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment; the BASF AgBalance methodology; and the WBCSD Social Metrics for Chemical Products in their Application. Social data sources: Three generic social databases (Social Hotspot Database, PSILCA, Maplecroft), company-specific social data (Ecovadis, Sedex) and social aspects in the working environment related to a product (Life Cycle Working Environment). Communication tools: The EU Ecolabel, to illustrate the ISO type I labels; The Ethical Tea Partnership, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, the Fairtrade, the Fair For Life Social and Fair Trade certification programme, the Rainforest Alliance and the East African Organic Product Standards, selected to illustrate VSSs (all of which are compliant with the International Labour Organization (ILO) core conventions on the rights of human beings at work, and among the most used in their respective market segments); and the certification scheme of Social Footprint-Product Social Identity (SFP) [1], which aims to provide consumers with "transparent information regarding the product's entire supply chain, the geographical location of suppliers and those involved in the final phase of the production process". The report presents some tables that show the results of the comparative analyses, and also shows a gap analysis and recommendations to improve the communication of the social performance of products through consumer information tools.
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Shout it Out: Communicating Products' Social Impacts - a White Paper of the Consumer Information Programme
Shout it Out: Communicating Products' Social Impacts - a White Paper of the Consumer Information Programme
Regions
Online activity
Lead organization
UN Environment
Objective
This White Paper's primary objective is to identify good practices of product-level social impact communication that can provide inspiration, and be built upon or replicated.
Achievements
The white paper 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. While the focus lies on business to consumer (B2C) communications, the recommendations given are also valid for business to business (B2B) and business to government communications. The target audience of this white paper are, primarily, companies and standard-setting/ labelling organizations (i.e. those who communicate), but recommendations on how to support progress are also provided for governments, nongovernmental organizations and relevant initiatives. While the focus lies on business to consumer (B2C) communications, the recommendations given are also valid for business to business (B2B) and business to government communications. The target audience of this white paper are, primarily, companies and standard-setting/ labelling organizations (i.e. those who communicate), but recommendations on how to support progress are also provided for governments, nongovernmental organizations and relevant initiatives. The White Paper was developed through a working group of the Consumer Information Programme.
Outreach and communication for SCP
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SLC Alliance S-LCA Guidelines Revision Workshop
SLC Alliance S-LCA Guidelines Revision Workshop
Regions
Global / All regions
Lead organization
Life Cycle Initiative along with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission, and New Earth
Objective
The workshop focused on the revision of the S-LCA Guidelines, providing a unique opportunity for a face-to-face meeting for members of the S-LCA community involved – or wanting to get involved – in the update of the 2009 UNEP-SETAC Guidelines. The Consumer Information Programme of the One Planet Network participated in this event and gave our input from the perspective of UN Environment and Consumers International. Our contribution to the workshop was to ensure that aspects relating to consumer information were considered in the re-drafted S-LCA guidelines. There is a planned section near to the end focused on communication of S-LCA, something which did not feature in the guidelines in 2009. During the workshop, we also launched the white paper 'Shout It Out: Communicating Products Social Impacts' which was the output of our working group 6 on Social Impact Communication.
Achievements
After an intensive 3 days, all sections of the draft S-LCA guidelines revision had been reviewed by 50 stakeholders and many notes were made. It is now the job of those re-writing the Guidelines to go away and consider all the comments and begin the re-drafting process. We were very pleased with the launch of the white paper 'Shout It Out: Communicating Products Social Impacts' which was the output of our working group 6 on Social Impact Communication. We also gave a presentation of the Consumer Information Programme and the One Planet Network to inform the stakeholders at the workshop of the background of our involvement.
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Launch webinar: 'Shout it Out: Communicating Products' Social Impacts'
Launch webinar: 'Shout it Out: Communicating Products' Social Impacts'
Regions
Online activity
Lead organization
UN Environment, Consumers International, EC Joint Research Centre, New Earth
Objective
Launch the white paper 'Shout it Our: Communicating Products' Social Impacts'
Achievements
The webinar launched a white paper that was developed through a working group of the CI-SCP, which brought together people from the scientific community (mainly social LCA experts) and communication experts. A highlight was the participation of three organizations that are featured as examples in the white paper: In our 'post truth media era', where companies face a crisis of trust, Junxion, an international social impact consultancy, spoke about a project with farmer markets. What they found is that what people value the most is the relationship with the farmer. The difference is not necessarily in the apple, but the apple might 'taste better' if you buy it from someone you know. Also, value is subjective, and consumers might not need to know all the complex issues. Key takeaways: tell the whole story (not just a good story) to gain trust, respect your stakeholders' time when collecting impact data from them; and only collect and communicate impact data if you are sure you help someone make an important decision through this ('understand what you want to know and show'). Quantis, who describe themselves as the creative geeks and works with companies to deliver credible communications, proposed the 4 sound waves of sustainability communications: get the internal teams on board, it is as important as the other three waves (professional stakeholders, business customers, end consumers). Quantis is implementing this for Nespresso for an internal campaign, for instance speaking about piece of mind 'you enjoy your morning coffee - Juan (coffee farmer) enjoys higher wages than other coffee growers'. Another example was the dual communication with two infographics designed for Leerdammer: one of them more detailed for retail customers, one of them more playful/ fun with many equivalencies for end consumers (e.g. '2200 tons of plastic equal the weight of 3000 cows'). Fundacion Chile, a private non-profit organization that fosters innovation, spoke about their web-platform (Mi Codigo Verde), where consumers can search for more sustainable products and filter for different impact categories, including social ones. Based on a consumer survey, they found that the information has to be simple (like you are talking to a friend), clear and validated, so that it cannot be misunderstood.
Impact and Results
White paper to be published 2018.
Next steps and how to get involved
Contact CISCP@unep.org