European consumers are increasingly looking for sustainability when shopping for goods, the International Trade Centre (ITC) is reporting, with possible ramifications for African exports going north.
Commenting on a recent study conducted by the EU, ITC said “retailers in five major European markets are putting more products on their shelves that are environmentally and socially sustainable – because consumers ask for them”.
Titled “The European Union Market for Sustainable Products”, the study surveyed a wide spectrum of consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, and found that 98% of retailers “consider sustainability as a factor in product sourcing”.
Most important, for SADC countries like South Africa which exports to most of these markets if not all, is the study’s revelation that 96% of retailers contacted “implement strategies to buy from sources that are certified as socially or environmentally sustainable”.
The study also reflected that 76% of survey participants “have public commitments to sustainable sourcing strategies”.
Speaking at the launch of the study’s findings, European commissioner for trade, Cecilia Malmström, said EU retailers were setting an example for sustainability practices that would ripple out to other markets.
“In the EU we have put sustainability at the heart of our trade policy. This study shows that this was the right decision. Consumers increasingly care about where their products come from, and how they were made – they want to know that when they buy something, the climate and workers’ rights have been respected.”
Several human rights agencies have already indicated that this could have an impact on goods made cheaply and imported from certain emerging market destinations.
