Transparency and sustainability in global commodity supply chains
Journal article, 2019

Over the last few decades rapid advances in processes to collect, monitor, disclose, and disseminate information have contributed towards the development of entirely new modes of sustainability governance for global commodity supply chains. However, there has been very little critical appraisal of the contribution made by different transparency initiatives to sustainability and the ways in which they can (and cannot)influence new governance arrangements. Here we seek to strengthen the theoretical underpinning of research and action on supply chain transparency by addressing four questions: (1)What is meant by supply chain transparency? (2)What is the relevance of supply chain transparency to supply chain sustainability governance? (3)What is the current status of supply chain transparency, and what are the strengths and weaknesses of existing initiatives? and (4)What propositions can be advanced for how transparency can have a positive transformative effect on the governance interventions that seek to strengthen sustainability outcomes? We use examples from agricultural supply chains and the zero-deforestation agenda as a focus of our analysis but draw insights that are relevant to the transparency and sustainability of supply chains in general. We propose a typology to distinguish among types of supply chain information that are needed to support improvements in sustainability governance, and illustrate a number of major shortfalls and systematic biases in existing information systems. We also propose a set of ten propositions that, taken together, serve to expose some of the potential pitfalls and undesirable outcomes that may result from (inevitably)limited or poorly designed transparency systems, whilst offering guidance on some of the ways in which greater transparency can make a more effective, lasting and positive contribution to sustainability.

Agriculture

Soy

Information

Palm oil

Trade

Deforestation

Disclosure

Commitments

Beef

Forests

Author

T. A. Gardner

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

M. Benzie

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Jan Börner

University of Bonn

E. Dawkins

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

S. Fick

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

R. Garrett

Boston University

J. Godar

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

A. Grimard

Global Canopy Programme

S. Lake

Global Canopy Programme

R. K. Larsen

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

N. Mardas

Global Canopy Programme

C. L. McDermott

University of Oxford

P. Meyfroidt

National Fund for Scientific Research

Universite catholique de Louvain

M. Osbeck

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Martin Persson

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

T. Sembres

European Forest Institute

C. Suavet

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

B. Strassburg

International Institute for Sustainability

A. Trevisan

European Commission (EC)

C. West

University of York

P. Wolvekamp

Both ENDS

World Development

0305-750X (ISSN) 18735991 (eISSN)

Vol. 121 163-177

Greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss from land use change embodied in international trade of agricultural commodities - a pan-tropical assesement

Formas (2014-1181), 2015-01-01 -- 2019-03-31.

Subject Categories

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Agricultural Science

Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.05.025

More information

Latest update

9/3/2020 7