Guide: Understanding Sustainability Initiatives – A Typology Framework

Sustainability initiatives play an important role in a broader ecosystem of market-based and policy measures in supporting sustainable value chains. Developed over the last several decades by a wide range of stakeholders, sustainability initiatives today vary significantly in terms of their objective, scope, operations, and governance. Their diversity can generate confusion and uncertainty amongst users, also making it difficult to achieve effective synergies with the regulatory environment promoting sustainable value chains. Against this background, this joint ITC-OECD report presents a typology framework to promote a common language and a shared understanding of the complex landscape of sustainability initiatives with the aim to help policy makers, private sector operators, non-governmental organisations, and other stakeholders in facilitating and assessing sustainability performance, harmonising approaches, and integrating sustainability initiatives along value chains.