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eco.business Fund Sustainability Standards Self-Assessment Tool

The eco.business Fund and the International Trade Centre have joined forces to enable businesses assess compliance against sustainability standards and potentially access preferential bank loans based on their sustainability score

Benefits

As the world continues to change, adopting sustainable practices and obtaining certification will not only make agriculture environmentally friendly, viable and profitable in the future, but will also provide greater access to markets and therefore competitive prices.

Traditionally, some producers have been skeptical about the relevance and importance of sustainable practices and/or certification. Therefore, the information provided by the self-assessment tool would prove to be particularly important during the current global juncture, where the effects of the COVID 19 crisis will undoubtedly require producers to adapt and use new techniques and assessment methodologies to learn about sustainable production practices and ensure that their farms and livelihoods survive over time.

 

Background

The eco.business Fund is an impact investment fund that is focused on environmental conservation and sustainability. It uses two main eligibility criteria to allocate its investments:  a list of approved sustainability standards and a Green List of additional activities that can be financed by the fund directly, or through the fund’s partner institutions. In this regard, the eco.business Fund’s Development Facility (DF) has already trained over 250 bank representatives in three countries on sustainability standards and certifications.

Collaboration

The eco.business Fund and the International Trade Centre have joined effort in the area of sustainable commodity trade and supporting institutions acquire a better understanding of sustainability standards, their potential impacts and relevance.

The project

Access the eco.business Fund self-assessment to assess compliance against Rainforest Alliance, Aquaculture Stewardship Council, and Fairtrade for products such as coffee, sugarcane, banana, and shrimps.

Partnership Objective

Enable companies to access preferential bank loans based on their sustainability score

Launched

December 2020

Sector(s):

Geographic scope:
World
Media:

Topics

Find out more about topics that this project has at heart.

Social responsibility

Partners

Funded by

Selected projects

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Additional Information:

Contact at ITC:

Mathieu Lamolle

lamolle @ intracen.org