45% of children in Côte d’Ivoire not attending school
Which ones are easier to solve?
The Dutch share of impacts:Between 5.000 - 15.000 child
laborers
Rainforest loss at a rate of 2 football fields per minute
Nepal earthquake: 9.000 deaths and 450.000 displaced
ISIS in Syria: 220.000 deaths and 9 million displaced
The ones to which we are connected
The differences are the barriers:
It’s not only about responsibility
• Urgency
• The availability heuristic
• Poverty vs Livelihoods
Understanding change
Factors influencing production-consumption systems: • Trade and global production chains• Prices• Income• Technological advances• New business models• Marketing• Urbanisation and infrastructure developments• Demographics; social and cultural factors such as habits, social norms and heritage
A couple of striking facts
Certified vs Non-certified
Ivory Coast – cocoa (2014)
2,343 euro 2,013 euro
• 90% of farmers say that the premium doesn’t cover the costs of production
Sourcing from large plantations & agribusinesses
More labels
Increase in wrong reasons to become more sustainable
More consumer segments
More companies using labels
More communication messages
Small farmers suffer
More products & distribution channels
Increased competition
Increase in confusion for consumers
Increase in methods to inform consumers (organizations
campaigns, apps, etc)
Erosion of principles
Complex & expensive
Addition of burdensome
elements
Very limited impact
A tool introduced to change a system
For discussion
• Does VSS have a role in the future? What are possible roles?
• What is the desired impact we want to have through our consumption?
• What else needs to happen to achieve that impact?