Climate change and environmental policies
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and The Southern African Essential Oil Producers’ Association (SAEOPA) invited Botanica to attend a two-day hybrid conference on New Horizons and innovations for the essential and vegetable seed oil industry. Here we had the opportunity to meet local and international champions in the essential and vegetable oils industry as well as government policymakers. The conference took place on 21 – 22 July.
The conference was held in collaboration with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Economic Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). It took place within the framework of the UNIDO and SECO Global Quality and Standards Programme, which has launched a 42-month project with the dtic on strengthening the quality of essential and vegetable oil exports from South Africa.
Interactive discussions included sessions on market diversity, responsible agriculture and resource-effective practices, technologies to support processing and product development, and changing the narrative on quality and sustainability.
Michelle Nott from Botanica presented on Climate change and environmental policies. Climate change has been identified as a leading human and environmental crisis of the 21st century. Globally, average temperatures are projected to rise between 1.4 and 5.8°C by the end of the century. Changes such as warmer temperatures, drier soils, changes in weather extremes and a rise in sea levels are predicted. The production of Argan oil has been severely affected by the impacts of climate change and, as a result, there is currently a global shortage. Ultimately, sustainable development is needed, including a rapid move toward a low-carbon economy.
The sustainable development goals are global goals and are considered an appropriate indictor to achieve sustainability as they are developed around all three aspects of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) as an integrated concept rather than individual aspects. Today, consumers are driving the industry to become greener as sustainability has gone from being a trend to an integral part of the essential and vegetable oils industry.
In addition to consumer demands, companies have obtained a range of certifications/compliance requirements that will allow them to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market.
These include:
1. REACH registration
2. CITIES compliance
3. The Nagoya Protocol
4. Corporate Social Responsibility
5. Sustainability
6. Organic certification
7. Fair trade
If we continue on this path, we will move towards a more sustainable future that contributes to combating the effects of climate change. Even though the implementation of a greener future is not always as smooth as we would like, we need to continue to work together to ensure our actions contribute to the benefit of the planet, its people and environment.
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