Tyre Asia – May-June 2018

Tyre Asia April/May 2018 51

be in the implementation of
these policies and guidelines.
Some may be strong on paper,
but without proper oversight
and accountability they risk
amounting to nothing.

Tire Industry Project

This is where TIP comes in: TIP
represents around two-thirds of
tyres produced globally and the
sustainable rubber platform it is
proposing could be a real force
for good. But it needs to be done
right.

Many commodity initiatives rightly
focus on how best to protect land
and forests – but companies are
still failing to acknowledge that
these are ecosystems which have
been traditionally owned and
managed by indigenous peoples
for generations.

It’s therefore crucial that these

communities are at the heart of
any sustainable rubber platform
as they look to create real action
that benefits all, and importantly
exploits no one. And that means
that the six million smallholder
rubber farmers, in natural rubber-
producing countries, must be
fairly represented.

Along with a previous disregard

for communities, another major

weakness of other commodity

platforms has been the failure

to adequately audit and penalise

companies when they break the

rules.

TIP mustn’t go down the same

route, if it wishes to avoid

becoming a body that rubber-

stamps and greenwashes harm

perpetrated by its own members.

The platform needs to adopt clear

standards for natural rubber,

which all members commit to

before joining.

Civil society and other supply

chain actors must also be given a

transparent and comprehensive

way to report policy violations.

And any companies that don’t

comply to the rules of the

platform should have their

membership revoked.

This robust approach to upholding

standards and penalising

companies which fail to comply

will help ensure a more dedicated

membership base, and will help

create coherent discussions

around policy implementation.

At the very least it will ensure

that companies are committed to

zero-deforestation and zero-land-

grabbing.

Ultimately, the kinds of abuses

we have already seen caused

by industrial rubber expansion

need national legal reforms which

vitally uphold indigenous peoples’

rights and protect ecosystems -

often countries with weak rule of

law and high levels of corruption

do not provide this protection.

As such, the companies that

source from these countries need

to do more to ensure that the

rubber in their tyres doesn’t cause

harm.

An inclusive sustainable rubber

platform could help raise

standards across the whole of

the sector and we hope the

discussions in Sri Lanka will be

just the beginning of positive

change for the rubber industry.

* Ali Hines is a land

campaigner at Global Witness

Disclaimer: The views and

opinions expressed are those

of the author(s) and do not

imply endorsement by Tyre

Asia.

Vietnamese worker digs a trench on a HAGL rubber plantation in Ratanakiri province, Cambodia (Photo credit: Global Witness)