Yesterday, the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) launched its official program at the IPM Fair in Essen, Germany. The 25 international partners of the initiative are committed to have 90% of their internationally traded production sustainable by 2020. This is a sector-wide initiative, targeting the entire supply chain.
By managing and prioritizing the sustainability risks on sector level, FSI will reduce the fragmentation of the multitude of projects and standards and will align investments and actions of the private and public sector. The FSI aims to unite sector players and will be introducing an innovative benchmarking system to give the sector transparency and comparability of standards. FSI will create a clear sustainability agenda drafted by and for the sector and will take joint action on current and future sustainability challenges (such as water use, working conditions and use of pesticides).
“To accelerate sustainability all stakeholders have to co-operate pre-competitive on an international level. FSI offers that.” states Tony Bruggink, Chairman of the FSI Board. Lennart Loven, President of Union Fleurs, adds: “As an international organisation we believe that we can contribute to the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative by bringing the message across to all actors in the supply chain”.
The FSI is a business driven initiative with full membership and strong participation of civil society organisations and stakeholders. Frontrunning organisations and companies are working together in a pre-competitive way with the ambition to realize a sustainable industry by 2020.
The FSI is a joint initative developed and supported by the following organisations:
Ahold NV, ANCEF, BGI, BothEnds, BRO, Ciccolella, Dutch Flower Group, Dutch Horticulture Board, EHPEA, Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP), Max Havelaar/Fair Trade, Fleura Metz, FloraHolland, Florint, Hivos, LTO Noord, Milieu Programma Sierteelt (MPS), Pfitzer BV, Planzen Center Kölle, Rainforest Rescue International, The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), UnionFleurs, Vereinigung des Schweizerischen Blumengrosshandels, VGB and WWF Kenya.
For more information visit their website