5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China The Better Sugarcane Initiative – Impacts and Benefits on the Global Sugarcane Industry R Quirk, H Morar, R Perkins, G Kingston, W Burnquist G Kingston, W Burnquist

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Why Sugarcane Better Sugarcane or Better Sugar? The crop has the impact not the products Why the focus on Cane? –cane is bigger than beet –beet faced uncertainty during BSI set-up –concentrate resources for higher impact Best or Better Management? C onstant improvement makes what is now the best obsolete in the future

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China History of BSI June 2005 – better sugar: better business meeting agreed key impacts July 2005 to January 2006 – aims and objectives agreed by January 2006 – Interim Steering Group agreed structure and governance Jan 2006 to present - Steering Group develops the initiative Communication brief developed and circulated in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Other Commodity Round Tables Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil ( Round Table on Responsible Soy Better Cotton Initiative Shrimp and Salmon aquaculture initiatives

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China What BSI will do Reduce, measurably, the most significant social and environment impacts Identify both on-farm and regional impacts Focus on 5-10 biggest impacts, not laundry lists

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China What BSI will do Identify a range of better management practices (BMPs) for different scale producers Analyze the economics of BMPs - most pay for themselves in 2-3 years Multi-stakeholder, transparent process to agree: The most significant impacts Acceptable, measurable goals

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Preparation and Planting – Research –Minimum Till –Chemical weed control –Direct drilled break crops –Mounded rows –Controlled traffic –Wider multiple rows –Direct drilled, mechanical cane planting

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Growing the Plant Crop – Research –Zero Till –Inter Row chemical weed control –Split stool fertilizer application

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Ratooning – Research –Inter row chemical weed control –Split stool fertilizer application

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China BSI structure Steering Committee Drives process 5 members (+4 open) Chairman Multi-stakeholder forum Feedback, final sign-off on stds <100 institutions & experts Annual regional meetings Cane production Cane processing + co-products Social / community Technical working groups Propose draft standards Paid leader + seconder Consult growing regions Secretariat Day-to-day running Paid Co-ordinator 0.5 FTE Technical help

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China BSI Steering Committee Committee members on 24 Nov 2006 – Robert Quirk, canegrower (chairman) – Jason Clay, environment NGO – Olivier Geneviève, social NGO – Hari Morar, miller/refiner – Harry Ott, soft drinks company Seeking ACP, Brazilian, biofuel and banker representatives on Steering Committee and others

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Voluntary standards BSI communication 17 February 2006: “Participants reconfirmed that the social and environmental standards that are eventually adopted will be voluntary”

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Developing and using standards The private sector needs to be transparently engaged in defining goals (eg. NSW Sugar’s Self Regulation) Adoption of goals by industry should preclude the necessity of Government intervention and regulation

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Consultation BSI: agrees that wide consultation and participatory approach are needed will work with all who share its aims and objectives

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Social standards BSI: Agrees that social goals will not be easy to set Will remain aware of ILO processes Will set up a Social and Community Technical Working Group (TWG)

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Goals & Implementation All BSI members will decide on achievable goals Goals achieved by BMPs can be used as screens for investors, buyers or insurers to make commodity production more sustainable The market will decide uptake, not BSI.

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China Next steps BSI meeting in January 2007 in London – 3-4 places available for potential Steering Committee members Recruit Steering and other members Raise funds and in-kind contributions Consult on Technical Working Groups Participate in ISSCT 2007

5 th to 8 th of December 2006, IAPSIT Symposium, Guiling, P R China And over time… Set up BSI as an independent organisation Consult iteratively on standards Propose draft standards in 2008 Could be adopted by biofuels buyers