At COP30 in Belém, a high-level roundtable on the role of international sustainability standards in shaping a more sustainable global trading system took place. The discussion was co-organized by the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS)—a platform uniting six UN agencies (FAO, ITC, UNCTAD, UNEP, UNIDO and UNECE)—together with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The panel was moderated by Axel Marx (Deputy Director Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, KULeuven and co-chair of the Academic Advisory Council of the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards) and brought together leaders shaping global sustainability governance, including Sergio Mujica (Secretary-General, ISO); Luz María de la Mora (Director, Division of International Trade, UNCTAD); Matías Urrutigoity (Chief, Office for Latin America & the Caribbean, ITC); Hugo Thomas Salamanca Dejour (Industry Decarbonisation Expert, UNIDO); Liva Kaugure (Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment Officer, FAO); Reyna Ubeda (Standardization Bureau Officer, ITU); Diane Holdorf (Executive Vice President, WBCSD); Danielle Morley (CEO, Bonsucro); Minnie Degawan (Director General, FSC Indigenous Foundation); and Rodrigo Fagundes Cezar (Professor, Fundação Getulio Vargas – FGV). Their insights converged around three overarching themes: the growing necessity of VSS for sustainable trade, the challenges that threaten their effectiveness, and the partnerships and policies needed to scale their impact.

Standards as Essential Tools for Implementation

While sustainability commitments proliferate across climate agreements, supply chain regulations, and corporate strategies, the urgent question remains: how do we implement them? International standards play a crucial role in translating broad goals into measurable, verifiable, and comparable practices. They serve as the practical frameworks that allow governments, businesses, and producers to operationalize sustainability in real economic activity.

This is why standards increasingly intersect with trade. The panel discussion underscored that VSS helps avoid a “race to the bottom” by functioning as de facto minimum requirements in global markets. In addition, for many countries in the Global South, VSS offers a way to align domestic production with international expectations, enhancing competitiveness and enabling access to higher-value markets.

But these tools are only as effective as their usability. Several speakers raised a central concern: the cost of certification remains a key issue. In some cases, certification and compliance costs can be very high which poses significant challenges for small-scale producers and small and medium enterprises. Without addressing cost and accessibility, VSS risks reinforcing inequalities they aim to solve.

Interoperability, Harmonization, and the Danger of Fragmentation

A major point of convergence across interventions was the urgent need to address fragmentation of standards and strive for interoperability and harmonization. Fragmentation of sustainability standards creates confusion, duplicates efforts, and increases the compliance burden. For example, standards fragmentation in sectors like steel and cement complicate decarbonization efforts.

It was also mentioned that inconsistent climate accounting and reporting rules erode trust, increase business costs, and generate incompatible data. Building frameworks to address was put forward as a key priority. In this context reference was made to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP), co-developed by World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, as an important step toward global coherence. The Brazilian government’s new action agenda on carbon accounting harmonization was cited as a powerful example of national leadership supporting this alignment.

Attention also focused on traceability and the role of digitalization herein. The Digital Product Passport (DPP) was introduced as an important innovation which has the potential to reshape traceability and data management across supply chains, enabling standardized and interoperable sustainability information from producers to consumers.

Inclusion, Rights, and Real Participation

A credible sustainability standard cannot simply be technically robust; it must also be socially legitimate. Rightsholders and workers must not only be consulted but meaningfully represented in standard-setting, governance and implementation. Certification must deliver real benefits to Indigenous communities and farmers, not just assurance for international buyers. Accessible grievance mechanisms—with strong remedy components—are essential in this context. Other proposals on making inclusion a key-component and reality focused on capacity building, group certification models, and the strengthening of cooperatives as intermediaries in VSS implementation. It was also emphasized that addressing costs can be done by increasing demand which makes a return on investment possible. In this context, the critical role of green public procurement was emphasized.

Evidence, Evaluation, and Partnerships for Continuous Improvement

Across the panel, one recurring theme was humility: we are often wrong about what works. Continuous evaluation of VSS impacts is therefore essential. In this context the importance of partnerships with research institutions to generate independent evidence that can guide improvements was emphasized. Scientific evaluation strengthens the legitimacy of standards and supports better policy design.

This was demonstrated through an example of how standards organizations can use implementation data to generate insights—on climate performance, productivity, or social outcomes. These insights not only refine standards but also help farmers and companies improve their practices. Ultimately, partnerships came up repeatedly—not just as a means to pool resources, but as a way to “future-proof” standards. As sustainability challenges evolve, cross-sector alliances between governments, companies, certifiers, researchers, and communities ensure that standards evolve with them.

The Road Ahead: From Fragmentation to Coherence, From Costs to Inclusion

As the discussion concluded, a clear message emerged: the question is no longer whether we need voluntary sustainability standards, but how we can make them work better—more inclusive, more accessible, more interoperable, and more impactful.

To achieve this, the panel highlighted several strategic priorities:

Reduce the cost of compliance through group certification, public–private finance, and targeted capacity building.
Harmonize standards to lower transaction costs and build global trust.
Integrate VSS more strategically into trade policies such as green procurement and market access regulations.
Strengthen inclusion of smallholders, Indigenous peoples, and Global South stakeholders in governance and decision-making.
Use digital tools to improve traceability and data quality.
Invest in impact evaluation and academic partnerships to ensure continuous learning.

COP30 provided an ideal moment to reflect on these challenges and opportunities. As global attention increasingly turns to implementation, accountability, and results, VSS will play an ever more central role in ensuring that sustainability commitments translate into real change on the ground. But their legitimacy and effectiveness will depend on our ability—and willingness—to build the right partnerships, align global systems, and ensure that no producer is left behind.