They may seem tedious, involve plenty of paperwork and give team members nightmares, yet certifications help to make our society work.
By Pablo & Rusty’s Coffee Roasters CEO Abdullah Ramay.
One of the lessons from recent supply chain issues around the world is that the essential things in our lives are often invisible when they work well, only to reveal their need when things fall apart. Certification is an example of this. It keeps our world going.
Due to certifications, audits, checks and standards, we don’t have bridges falling over, cars without the proper safety features, and food that’s poisoning us all. When basic structures, facilities and services don’t work well or are substandard, it can be a disaster in the making, as some Sydney apartment owners in a recent situation can attest to. The absence of certification, especially where things don’t work well, leads to a loss of trust from consumers and can destroy movements, industries and businesses quickly.
This is why certifications must take centre stage in our fight for sustainability and a more ethical future. Climate change is an existential crisis that needs a collective and whole-of-society response. We need to make sure that the claims being made by governments, organisations, and businesses about their sustainability efforts and their products are true and accurate. Consumers must have confidence that the products they buy because of sustainability driven values are actually delivering the outcomes they seek. This confidence will ensure that more and more consumers can get behind sustainability initiatives and ethical brands. This will lead to tangible outcomes and in turn towards a positive cycle of awareness, producing action that delivers positive results, further generating more awareness and more positive action.
Read the article in full in the January/February issue of Convenience World.
