The Roundtable on Responsible Soy Association, international organisation promoting the responsible production, processing and trading of soy, has announced that its RT14 conference will take place in Utrecht, The Netherlands, from 11-12 June 2019
Taking place at Rabobank Head Office 2019’s conference will focus on a number of important areas including the link between the finance sector and issues of ‘supply and demand’ around commodities such as soy.
With input from leading experts in the fields of finance, asset management and environmental commodities - not to mention soy producers from across the globe - RT14 will inform progress around the future of supply chain collaboration.
Heleen van den Hombergh, senior advisor on agro-commodities at IUCN National Committee in the Netherlands (IUCN NL), will present the current state of certification and how it relates with soy consumption in Europe as well as a benchmark of sustainable soy standards. She will also elaborate on the requirements for a deforestation/ conversion free soy value chain.
A panel focusing on finance will see representatives from banks and investors including Rabobank, APG Asset Management, PRI and Robeco explore a number of pertinent issues such as what the value chain needs and expects from finance institutions, what impact can these institutions have on landowners and how institutions can play their part in creating a greater demand for responsible sourcing.
Through high-level industry and stakeholder engagement, RT14 will contribute to the co-creation of a more sustainable future for a financial sector that needs to engage with more ethical and transparent investments on behalf of its clients.
Experts, RTRS members and panellists will also explore how governments are and should be helping consumer markets mobilise to accelerate commitments to responsible sourcing, how jurisdictional and supply chain approaches to responsible sourcing can complement one another and how RTRS’ work with jurisdictional certification links to landscape initiatives like produce, conserve and include (PCI) as well as multilateral commitments such as the Amsterdam Declaration.
With a view to understanding the issues around the global demand for soy, Lidl, COFCO, FrieslandCampinas and WWF representatives will explore what changes are taking place in consumer markets and how this can impact on global supply chains.
