Seeing the trees for the forest: Adoption dynamics of the Forest Stewardship Council

The integration of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) into public policy (i.e., their institutionalization) is generally considered a driver for their adoption. However, although the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a leading VSS in forest governance, has been increasingly institutionalized, its adoption has been stagnating recently. To understand what drives this stagnation, we analyze the adoption of FSC certification globally and at the country level over a 20-year period. We show that the global stagnation in FSC adoption hides distinct adoption dynamics at country level. We highlight three types of country-level adoption dynamics: stagnation, growth, and decline. Based on selected descriptive country case studies, we explore factors driving these dynamics, with a focus on the role of governments and competition with other VSS.

Automated summary

The institutionalization of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) is considered to drive their adoption, but the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has experienced stagnation in adoption recently. By analyzing the global and country-level adoption of FSC certification over a 20-year period, we find that the global stagnation hides different dynamics at the country level. Factors such as government role and competition with other VSS play important roles in driving these dynamics.