Creating sustainable futures/CSF102/Baseline/Product certification

Around the world there are literally hundreds of different sustainable product certification and standards.

Some apply at a national level - like New Zealand’s Qualmark certification for the tourism and visitor industry; others apply at a regional level - like the Nordic Swan Ecolabel in Scandinavian countries; whilst others are recognised internationally like the Fair Trade certification and FSC certification (Forest Stewardship Council).

Sustainable product certifications and standards are increasingly used to demonstrate legitimacy and enhance the appeal of products to consumers seeking to buy ethically produced and more sustainable, responsible products. Of course, the strength of the product claim depends entirely on how robust the standard is, and how easy - or difficult - it is to achieve. More recently, businesses that want to seriously demonstrate the sustainability credentials of their product have used the EPD, or Environmental Product Declaration, process to provide full transparency about the product using a Life Cycle Assessment approach.