Environmental sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the farming industry. While GLOBALG.A.P.’s holistic flagship standard IFA includes core requirements relating to environmental sustainability, some stakeholders want to go that extra mile to demonstrate their commitment to this crucial topic.

The decision was therefore made to develop a farm assurance solution in either an add-on or stand-alone standard format that will support this by 2025. The draft principles and criteria cover topics including:

• Water

• Biodiversity

• Greenhouse gases

• Regenerative agriculture

• Food waste

• Metrics

• Footprinting

Participants in the development process

In addition to public consultation, an Environmental Sustainability Working Group was established to help drive the development. Its key tasks are to explore how the GLOBALG.A.P. certification system can further embrace environmental sustainability while observing the principle of avoiding duplication at farm level, exploring harmonization with existing sustainability programs, and encouraging the cost-efficient adoption of responsible farming practices.