The Global Coffee Platform (GCP), the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge have publicly launched the Coffee Sustainability Catalogue 2016.
The report, shared during the international Vision2020 workshop in London, compiles information on the sustainability initiatives of more than 80 stakeholders throughout the coffee sector.
The Catalogue sheds light on sustainability efforts currently underway, and how actors in the sector can collaborate to make coffee the world’s first fully sustainable agricultural product.
“There is undeniably an urgent need for increased coordination and alignment – which is why the Global Coffee Platform as a central convener of public and private coffee stakeholders will use the Catalogue as a tool to strengthen and develop our strategies so we see less fragmentation and overlap and more collaboration towards making coffee the first sustainable agriculture commodity before 2045,” said GCP’s Interim Executive Director, Annette Pensel.
Several key findings from report include:
- Across the coffee industry, more than US$350 million is being invested annually in sustainability programs. Collective efforts are also enabling the industry to reach 350,000 farmers each year – a figure that has nearly doubled in the last 15 years.
- Certification is a tool commonly used to increase consumer awareness, social inclusiveness, traceability and assurance and incentives.
- The report estimates that transitioning the entire sector to sustainable production is possible, but at the current rate of investment, it would require a total investment of US$4.1 billion to achieve and would take until 2045 to incorporate all coffee producers.
The goal of the organisations in assembling this information and publicly presenting it in the Coffee Sustainability Catalogue is to better understand the current state of the coffee sector and accelerate collaborative action toward future sustainable coffee initiatives.
The Coffee Sustainability Catalogue informs the work of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge – a dynamic and diverse coalition from across the coffee sector, united in the belief that it is possible to grow coffee while ensuring the prosperity and wellbeing of farmers and conserving forests, water and soils.
