TOKYO, Japan — The Rainforest Alliance has been selected as one of the preferred certification partners by the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This honor means that the committee recognizes the high value of the Rainforest Alliance’s certification and traceability systems.
The Rainforest Alliance has worked tirelessly for more than three decades to improve rural livelihoods, protect nature, and help make responsible business the new normal, including through its certification programs. The recognition as a preferred certification partner for the 2020 Games highlights the significance of this work as well as the increasing importance of more transparent and sustainable supply chains.
Han de Groot, CEO of the Rainforest Alliance said: “We’re delighted that the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee included us among its preferred partners. This means supporting more transparency and traceability in agricultural supply chains. We need to transform our relationship with the land and forests we rely on, and we can do that by joining forces with producers, businesses and consumers. We can make this relationship work better for all.”
The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organization working in more than 60 countries at the intersection of business, agriculture and forests. The organization aims to create a better future for people and nature by making responsible business the new normal. By bringing farmers, forest communities, companies and consumers together it addresses some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges of today.
The organization works to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes different agricultural products, with a focus on cocoa, coffee, tea, bananas, forest products, and palm oil. These changes are wrought through its certification program, tailored supply chain services, landscape and community work and advocacy. In 2018, seven million hectares of land were under Rainforest Alliance or UTZ agricultural certification and more than 2 million certified farmers are certified with one of these two standards, which are designed to improve economic, environmental and social sustainability.
Products bearing the Rainforest Alliance seal or UTZ label can be bought in more than 130 countries.
