Latest IUCN Report: RSPO Among Top Standards for Biodiversity Conservation and Supporting a Nature-Positive Future

A recent IUCN assessment of 11 voluntary agricultural standards identified RSPO to be among the strongest performers on biodiversity, climate, and species protection criteria.

Agriculture is both a key driver of biodiversity loss and a critical lever for its recovery. Agricultural sustainability standards and associated certification schemes play an important integrating biodiversity conservation within farming practices. However, the wide range of standards and criteria makes it challenging to assess their effectiveness in delivering meaningful biodiversity conservation impacts.

Set against these challenges, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reviewed 11 widely used standards relevant to buyers of natural ingredients across sectors. The study provides a structured overview of how existing approaches incorporate biodiversity considerations. The assessment considers key themes such as habitat conservation, restoration, climate change, legality, and community engagement, offering insights into how standards can support different aspects of biodiversity conservation.

The  global conservation authority’s report emphasises the importance of combining different approaches – including voluntary standards, policy frameworks and on-the-ground practices – to advance sustainable agricultural systems. It highlights opportunities to strengthen how standards support biodiversity outcomes which include enhancing the integration of biodiversity and climate considerations, supporting landscape-level approaches, and improving monitoring and governance mechanisms. 

 The report concludes that RSPO (alongside Rainforest Alliance, Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT) and Fair for Life) aligns best with biodiversity criteria and should therefore be considered a “priority standard”. According to the report, these standards “demonstrate comprehensive coverage across biodiversity themes within agricultural production systems, especially in relation to biodiversity conservation measures and processes, habitat preservation and enhancement, addressing threats to biodiversity”. 

Other elements that were highlighted included the RSPO’s High Conservation Value Approach and  the way the standard addresses climate change, with protections for High Carbon Stock (HCS) forests and clear controls required on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use change and production operations.

RSPO distinguishes itself for its approach to the protection of rare, threatened, or endangered  (RTE) species. The RSPO Standards mandates not only their protection but also the establishment of educational programmes to regularly inform the workforce about the status of RTE species. Additionally, RSPO proposes strict disciplinary measures for any individual involved in the capture, harm, collection, trade, possession, or killing of these species.