GEPA- The Fair Trade Company
GEPA
Corporate goal • To promote disadvantaged producers, especially in the global South • To influence and change consumer shopping attitudes in the North • To influence and change structures of international trade by means of lobbying and advocacy work
ID: 586991637955-55
Lobbying Activity
Response to Climate Law
30 Apr 2020
We warmly welcome the proposal by the Commission on a regulation on an European climate law.
Looking back at our 45 years old successful Fair Trade practice and company philosophy and we want to highlight two crucial steps of implementation towards a climate-neutral European Union.
1. Support of ethically and fair trading SMEs and smallholder farmers and producers
European climate law measures have to tackle climate issues at their roots. As those who are at the frontline of the climate crisis, smallholder farmers and producers have to be at the heart of the climate crisis negotiations.
Smallholder farmers and producers have a key role to play in achieving article 4, adaptation to climate change. However, they face massive barriers to achieving this goal. Key problems like the power imbalance in value chains and unfair trading practices deprive them of the resources needed to invest in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The Fair Trade model provides an example of a proven and working fair and sustainable business model, which offers better remuneration via a transparent and sustainable business partnership, strives to ensure decent working conditions, promotes sustainable production practices and the empowerment of those at the frontline of climate extremes. Fair trading policies are instrumental to facilitating adaptation. Therefore fair trading policies should be included in the rollout of the climate regulation.
As a result the EC and all Member States have to put special emphasis on the needs of especially ethically and fair trading SMEs and smallholder farmers and producers while setting up explicit measures to achieve the target of 2030. We support the EU Trade for All commitment of the Commission that it is important for the EU to take on the leadership role for global transition and to guide by example. To successfully implement a climate law on EU level and achieve climate-neutrality it is crucial to ensure not to exclude from the market poor and marginalised farmers,
producers, workers and artisans producing countries due to lack of capacity to ensure compliance.
We urge the Commission to
• align awarding criteria and procedures of financial mechanisms to small producers and their organizations so that they can access available funding and manage it in an unbureaucratic way
• provide capacity-building for poor and marginalised groups, their communities and countries as a whole to bolster their climate resilience and the full social and environmental sustainability of their production patterns.
• ensure the burden (and costs) of compliance are proportionally shared among all actors along the value chains according to their financial and economic power and do not fall on poor and marginalised farmers, producers, workers and artisans
2. Support of holistic business approaches and enhance fair trading practices
Fair Trade Schemes and Fair Trade enterprises contribute to the creation of adaptation strategies to climate change, strengthened resilience and reduced vulnerability (article 4) in a manner that is still commercially viable and competitive.
Especially in regards to sharing best practices and engaging with all parts of society the EC should
promote Fair Trade Schemes and practices to conventional businesses as practical ways of
improving both their environmental and social sustainability.
We urge the Commission to
•recognise the role of alternative business models that put people and planet before profit and integrate high and progressive standards on both social and environmental aspects into their core production, sourcing, and overall business practices.
•promote mechanisms by which businesses internalise the costs of their unfair and nonclimate friendly activities.
•acknowledge and promote the interdependencies between SDG12 on sustainable consumption and production and SDG13, the aims of the EU Climate Law as well as the requirements under the Organic Regulation.
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