Success of voluntary sustainability certification schemes – A comprehensive review

Tröster, Rasmus; Hiete, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.240

Cited by 66 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…All LRs state that gaps exist in CSR research. A number of authors highlight that research is mostly at the organizational level, ignoring the wider ecosystem in which a company operates [18,19] while behavioral analysis at an individual level is largely neglected as well [1, [20][21][22]. Thus, there is a need for multilevel research that is capable of integrating separate levels of analysis: institutional, organizational, and individual [23,24].…”

Section: Literature Analysis and Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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In Search of Sustainable Value: A Structured Literature Review

2020

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The concept of value, where shareholders are the main recipients of the created value, is changing towards more comprehensive models, which respond to the increased stakeholder awareness and urgent sustainability agenda. Hart and Milstein (2003) elaborated the widely used sustainable value concept in which they characterize temporal and spatial dimensions of value, and suggest strategic drivers for sustainability. Although the framework is highly cited, there is no review on the changes over more than ten years. In this paper, we adopted a structured literature review methodology to discover how the concept of sustainable value has been used by researchers and how it has been developed. Our findings show that sustainable value has mainly been used as the general phrase to describe positive business results instead of using it as a concept. Scholars, who make an in-depth analysis of sustainable value do not emphasize the time horizon of sustainable value as its peculiar characteristic while broad stakeholder surrounding is called to be an important feature of sustainable value. Additionally, strategic drivers for sustainability have moved from being purely environmental as in Hart and Milstein’s (2003) concept: globalization, economic fluctuations, and knowledge innovation have become as important as green technologies and carbon-reduction policies.

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Section: Literature Analysis and Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 Sustainable entrepreneurship [18,42,111] 3 Sustainable business model [21,26,112] 3 Sustainable strategy [22,113] 2 CSR standards [114,115].…”

Section: Conclusion Implications and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

In Search of Sustainable Value: A Structured Literature Review

2020

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“…Reasons for companies to adopt forest certification seem to be more market driven than regulation driven, as an investment in a certification scheme demonstrates a commitment to sustainability and secures legitimacy [34]. However, more research about these forest certification schemes is needed, as recent reviews identified success and influence factors but not an assessment as to whether these schemes have a positive sustainability impact or not [35].…”

Section: Competitiveness/economic Viabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Development Goals and the Forest Sector—a Complex Relationship

Baumgartner

2019

Forests

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The United Nations adopted the Agenda 2030 with its core element, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in September 2015. In order to achieve these goals within the coming years, intense efforts are required by all political and societal actors. Although the first definitions of sustainable development referred to the forest sector, the question remains: what contribution can forestry make to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? Therefore, the direct positive and negative effects of forestry itself on sustainability are analyzed, and it is discussed how sustainable forest management could contribute to achieving other Sustainable Development Goals in addition to SDG 15. This analysis reveals that forestry plays a dual role, i.e., forestry can achieve positive sustainability effects but can also have negative impacts. It is thus recommended to use integrated assessment approaches to analyze whether a specific forest-related policy or strategy is contributing to sustainable development. Beside quantitative integrated assessments, the use of qualitative frameworks like the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development is proposed. It is also suggested to operationalize the concept of second-order sustainability performance for the forest sector in future research.

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“…Several studies analysed FSC's advantages and success or limitations and barriers [14][15][16][17], legitimacy [18], forest governance improvements [12,19,20], accountability [21], effectiveness [22], as well as consumers and private forest owners' perceptions and demands [7,[23][24][25]. Moreover, studies have also analysed the reasons why forest companies are changing their practices to comply with FSC standards [7] and investigated the reasons for selecting a particular forest certification scheme [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of Forest Stewardship Council Certification to Sustainable Forest Management of State Forests in Selected Southeast European Countries

Malovrh

Bećirović

Marić

et al. 2019

Forests

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In recent decades, the concept of forest certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has been widely adopted in selected Southeast European countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia). As sustainability is traditionally recognised as a leading principle in the forest management doctrine in these countries, the aim of this study was to understand whether, and how, FSC forest certification contributes to the sustainable management of state forests. The research was carried out in two phases. First, in order to assess forest management compliance with FSC standard, non-conformities for the period 2014–2018, identified in audit Public Summary Reports, were analysed in all public companies that managed state-owned forests in selected countries. Further, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the professionals responsible for forest certification in these companies were conducted (n = 11) to determine the contribution of forest certification to the economic, ecological, and social aspects of sustainable forest management. In total, 185 non-conformities were analysed. The results showed that FSC certification was successful in addressing certain problems in forest management practices and contributed to sustainable forest management, mainly covering social and ecological issues. The most frequently identified non-conformities were those related to FSC Principle 4 Community relations and worker’s rights (32.3% of all non-conformities) and Principle 6 Environmental impact (30.4% of all non-conformities). The contribution of FSC certification to sustainable forest management is mainly reflected in the following aspects: Worker’s rights; health and safety of employees; availability of appropriate personal protective equipment; consultation with local people and interest groups; awareness of environmental impacts of forestry operations; waste disposal and storage of fuel; improving the image of forest companies and maintenance of high-conservation-value forests. The majority of non-conformities were minor and required procedural changes to be closed. Moreover, there are no statistically significant differences between the countries with regard to the number of non-conformities for all principles. It can be concluded that FSC certification, as a market-driven mechanism, plays an important role by influencing forest management practices and business operations of public forest companies in a positive manner.

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Success of voluntary sustainability certification schemes – A comprehensive review

Cited by 66 publications

References 19 publications

In Search of Sustainable Value: A Structured Literature Review

In Search of Sustainable Value: A Structured Literature Review

Sustainable Development Goals and the Forest Sector—a Complex Relationship

Contribution of Forest Stewardship Council Certification to Sustainable Forest Management of State Forests in Selected Southeast European Countries

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