The 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 effectiveness. The UNFSS AAC Annual Meeting 2022 conducted a SWOT analysis of voluntary sustainability standards structured around the internal and external dimensions of VSS, with a development related lens.

On the internal dimension, the AAC meeting explored the strengths and weaknesses of VSS in advancing the sustainability agenda, especially in developing countries, with a specific focus on VSS institutional design and on their impacts on the ground. The discussions ultimately distilled the settings in which VSS are effective and identify areas for improvement.

On the external dimension, the AAC meeting highlighted the opportunities and threats that VSS face as a private governance tool that interacts with other regulatory initiatives. More specifically, the discussions explored developments in trade policy, national standards, due diligence regulations and policy mixes and the way VSS fit in these. Ultimately, the AAC meeting assessed the implications of these policy developments on the role VSS can play to contribute to a consolidated regulatory framework for sustainability and identified the related challenges especially for developing countries.

The AAC meeting was structured around 6 sessions that included a mix of academics, practitioners and policy-makers to share scientific evidence and policy considerations on VSS as tools to promote sustainable development.

The UN Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS), a joint initiative of FAO, ITC, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNEP and UNIDO, working on VSS as a market-based policy tool to achieve the SDGs. UNCTAD is the Secretariat of UNFSS