Road Testers of the Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information

The group was created in February 2018 and had 6 online webinars and more than 20 bilateral webinars/calls throughout the year. The members supported the group in mobilizing teams with dedication and willingness to share their insights and valuable experiences. The group has worked to become an international community of practice on communicating product sustainability information, using the Guidelines for Providing Product Sustainability Information as the benchmark. The main achievements are listed below: - Private sector engagement in testing the Guidelines successfully done, with 28 participating organisations from: • Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania; • Automotive, chemicals, consumer goods, financial services, food and agriculture, garments and textile, manufacturing, retail, sports equipment and accessories, household and personal care, ornamental, and hospitality sectors; • From 8 to 100,000 employees • Type of environmental product claims (labels, product declarations, marketing campaigns and voluntary standards and certifications). - The process allowed road testers to test their own claims and reflect on potential improvements, while giving feedback on the Guidelines' utility. - The road testing confirmed that the Guidelines are useful for the improvement of existing product sustainability information or the development of upcoming claims, as well as for labelling organizations to compare and adapt or update their schemes based on the UN principles - The road testers acknowledged they gained practical insights on how they could improve their claims, especially new ideas on further engagement of relevant stakeholders - One company analysed a claim that was still under development. During the process of completing the questionnaire, the organization recognised there was not yet sufficient evidence to make this claim reliable and therefore decided to not go further with the communication strategy. The below mentioned quotes can illustrate some of the impacts this project had on the participants: • "The use of a global standard where all companies and products use the same basic framework and criteria will be very helpful. This will ensure that we do not miss anything as we develop claims and also try to use one basic set of principles." Colgate-Palmolive • "The Guidelines have offered us a clear learning on how to communicate the sustainability attributes of our products to consumers and the exercise was a turning point for a deep reflection on such communication." Auchan Retail España • "After completing this template, we see the need to involve all teams who manage social media, online as well as our in-store customer communications, to understand how we can help customers to act sustainably during the purchase, use, and disposal of our products. We will be looking to incorporate the principles in the Guidelines into Woolworths' procedures in the future." Woolworths Group Limited