Floriculture sector celebrates a sustainable evolution

 

FSI members set ambitions for reduction of carbon footprint and living wage gaps

The 68 Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) members have agreed on an ambition to reduce the carbon footprint for selected products and to reduce the living wage gap of workers at farm level by 2025.

In addition to these responsible business conduct ambitions, the group set during their 2021 General Assembly two more ambitions for 2025: On responsible production and trade by including new environmental and social requirements to reach the 90% responsibly produced and traded volumes ambition ;  and on reporting  by supporting FSI members to communicate on progress and integrate due diligence reporting by 2025.

 

FSI is a market-driven initiative which, with strategic support of IDH, aligns international floriculture stakeholders to collaboratively drive sustainable production and trade. The 68 members include growers, traders, international retailers, NGOs, and other service providers. Following the close collaboration and joint achievements between 2013 and 2020, the group is now reaffirming their commitment by adopting the above ambitions as part of the sector’s overall strategic plan for a “responsible and transparent supply chain” in 2025.

Sustainability is an essential part of business, and the FSI 2025 strategy contains the components which are needed to let the sector become a solution to the current challenges.

– Erling Ølstad, CEO Mester Gronn

 

Launching new sustainability projects

Together with IDH, FSI also announced the launch of new projects, including the “Wild Harvest” project. Through its aim to increase transparency and sustainability in the floral chain, the 3-year project will support implementation of improved harvest practices to help conserve vulnerable landscapes, sequester carbon, and safeguard livelihoods within the floral chain.

IDH has also launched a cross-sectoral Remote Auditing project in response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging uptake of novel remote auditing techniques to ensure sustainability assurance under crisis conditions.

Share of responsibly sourced flowers and plants reaches a new high

Whilst looking ahead to further cultivate supply chain responsibility and transparency, the FSI members also celebrated a new high in volumes of responsibly sourced flowers and plants. Overall preliminary results from sourcing measurements show increases towards 90% for plants and 70% for flowers, a steady growth over a 5-year period while at the same time adding more and more volumes. This demonstrates the sector’s continuous dedication and drive to work towards the 90% ambition.

To support members in reaching their common ambitions, FSI will remain a neutral and not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization, driven to tackle sector-specific challenges through multi-stakeholder initiatives. Fundamentally, this sense of collective responsibility and proactivity aims to establish the floriculture sector as a forward-thinker in constructing a better future for our planet and our people.

For more information on FSI, please visit www.fsi2025.com and follow FSI on LinkedIn.

 

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