World Rubber Summit 2021

Rubber event

To embrace an inclusive and sustainable recovery all stakeholders are called to cooperate in restructuring supply chains, implement diligent information sharing, promote green investments, capacity building and upskilling to generate positive social and environmental outcomes. These actions need to be enabled and supported through policy reforms and regulations.

The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Cote d'Ivoire, organized the virtual World Rubber Summit (WRS) 2021.

The WRS is a unique and exclusive opportunity for the global rubber industry to discuss its current challenges, but also the future opportunities that might arise from the disruptive trends that are transforming the automotive industry and the extensive use of innovative solutions to improve rubber quality and productivity.

The theme for the World Rubber Summit 2021 was ‘’Facing the Future: Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth for the Next Normal’’.

Richard Laity, PEFC Southeast Asia Manager, and other panellists debated about ‘Climate Adaption & Mitigation: Farm to Trade’.

Why rubber is important to society and the world

Natural rubber is an essential raw material used in the creation of more than 40,000 products. It represents a USD 300 billion supply chain involving 40 million people (IRSG, 2019). About 63 million green tonnes of rubber wood are produced annually, making rubber wood the world’s most widely traded tropical hardwood (ITTO, 2017)

PEFC was founded by small and family forest owners and gives the industry the benefit of 20 years of experience in championing the rights of smallholders and forest operators around the world. 85% of natural rubber is produced by six million smallholders, mostly in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sustainable management of forests – essential for the rubber sector

PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standards enable the sharing of experiences and facilitation of cooperation amongst family forest owners, community forest groups, and indigenous peoples in implementing sustainable forest management and pursuing forest certification.

PEFC chain of custody certification then provides the link, tracking forest-based products, such as natural rubber and rubber wood, from the forest to the final product.

It provides independently verified assurance that the certified materials contained in a product originate from certified sustainably managed forests, including rubber plantations. By managing rubber plantations according to PEFC Sustainable Forest Management standards, any negative environmental and social impacts are minimized while producing natural rubber and rubber wood. A rubber plantation's economic value is more viable; notably, its productivity is improved and maintained in the long run.

PEFC’s Supporting Sustainable Rubber Campaign

Stay tuned for the launch – to be announced soon!

“The recovery that lies ahead of us will bring multiple opportunities for governments, businesses and consumers to drive a real change towards a more socially responsible production and consumption to assure a fair, inclusive and sustainable rubber economy growth in this decade” according to IRSG.