Mighty Earth: GPSNR risks being a greenwashing scheme

The new GPSNR isn’t without its critics. Campaign organisation Mighty Earth notes that no NGOs have joined so far, and suggests that the platform is thus “already failing” from the outset to exemplify leadership within the rubber industry.

“In a true leadership position, GPSNR would be aligning industry to best practices for the climate, which is also good business,” comments Kristin Urquiza, deputy director of Mighty Earth.

In a letter sent to the TIP, Urquiza wrote of the “considerable disappointment and frustration” felt by Mighty Earth upon determining that the newly-launched platform “does not substantively address the reasonable expectations of NGOs.” She also wrote of her displeasure in what Mighty Earth views as the exclusion of civil society, academic, and farmer representatives from “key decision-making roles” within the GPSNR.

Mighty Earth notes that across commodities, only platforms that employ multi-stakeholder approaches have a track record of success; the organisation believes the GPSNR risks being a “greenwashing scheme that does little more than serve as a forum for discussion.”