On voluntary basis, the first 3 standards have signed a policy agreement that will help to reduce environmental impact in the flowers sector. The Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (part of IDH Fresh & Ingredients program) adopted new criteria to support growers in their journey towards measuring and reducing environmental impact. Now, these first 3 scheme owners have already signed an agreement working towards adherence to this criteria.
Kenya Flower Council Silver Standard, Florverde® Sustainable Flowers, MPS GAP and MPS-ABC have been admitted and recognized for the environmental scope of the FSI Basket of Standards, agreeing to comply with the environmental criteria with a transition period until end of 2020.
IDH creates so-called Basket of Standards which can be used by private partners for responsible sourcing. It acknowledges the great variety of standards and certifications in a specific sector contributing to higher levels of sustainability, while avoiding unnecessary audit duplication, confusion for market players and increased costs. Standards in the Basket are benchmarked against international reference points through a benchmarking process.
Standards adopting the new environmental criteria contribute to pro-actively preparing growers and the sector for relevant market demands through:
- the adoption of standardized record keeping on key inputs;
- the assurance of quality performance of standards and audits;
- transparency and the comparison of performance over time and space.
Stimulating and reflecting good practices in floriculture, the FSI Basket of standards is evolving and including additional environmental benchmarking criteria with an emphasis on reliable data and record-keeping. The environmental scope is still voluntary and not added to the current Basket. Adoption will be required after 2020.
