2021 UNFSS Academic Advisory Council Annual Meeting: Research Frontiers on the Adoption, Impact and Effectiveness of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS)

The 2021 UNFSS Academic Advisory Council (AAC) annual meeting brings together an international mix of academic and policy experts from various disciplines and backgrounds to consolidate the knowledge on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of VSS impact and effectiveness.
Academic and policy sessions are held to foster the debate on VSS as a tool to enhance sustainable development. The sessions discuss the role of VSS in international trade, the impact of VSS on socio-economic and environmental sustainability, the role of VSS in public policy, and the future of VSS. While the meeting mainly aims to foster the knowledge on VSS, it also seeks to link researchers to policy makers in a way that assists in creating informed policies through research. In addition, it intends to provide inputs to empirical and theoretical research and develop a common foundation upon which further research can be conducted.
The UN Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS), a joint initiative of UNCTAD, FAO, ITC, UNEP and UNIDO, working on VSS as a market-based policy tool to achieve the SDGs. UNCTAD is the Secretariat of UNFSS