Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 and the climate challenge
As we continue our yearlong focus on how we can all make small environmentally friendly changes to help reduce our impact on the world, we take a look at Fairtrade Fortnight.
Every year Fairtrade Fortnight raises awareness of the growing need to source sustainably across the globe. This year’s campaign is called Choose the World you Want, and takes place from Monday 21st February. It’s a packed fortnight full of activity on social media and the Fairtrade website – including a virtual festival, all centred around climate justice.
Who are the Fairtrade Foundation?
Established in 1992, the not-for-profit independent organisation works to ensure the important messages of the Fairtrade movement are understand across the UK’s schools, businesses and homes. Engaging consumer brands to encourage them to source more sustainability and work towards the Fairtrade mark we all recognise when we go shopping.
That Fairtrade mark has been developed to ensure a fair price is paid for sustainably farmed crops. Providing support to develop environmentally sound growing practices, and ensure that farming communities can work under fair conditions and take home a wage that can support their family. The Fairtrade movement also tackles wider unethical employment practices such as gender inequality and child labour – with robust measures in place to protect these fundamental working practices.
Focusing on the bigger picture
With the ongoing climate crisis continuing to heavily impact sustainable farming, the Fairtrade movement established a carbon credit scheme that rural communities and smallholders can work towards, to produce carbon credits and access the carbon market as they adapt to climate changes.
With the sea levels raising and extreme weather changes affecting crop and soil fertility, climate change is placing additional strain on farmers in developing countries and threatening their fragile ecosystem. The Fairtrade foundation reports that 80% of the food produced for the world comes from 500 million family farms, making it more important than ever to ensure these communities can continue to farm and live comfortably.
Where organisations chose to become carbon neutral certified, this provides the opportunity to invest in global initiatives that deliver real change within their communities, through the carbon credit scheme.
During our own evaluation process to ensure the NRL Group could meet the Carbon Neutral International Standard, we partnered with One Carbon World to purchase carbon credits to offset consumption we could not immediately eliminate – including supporting an exciting reforestation project in South America. With hundreds of initiatives being undertaken across the globe, the carbon credit scheme provides an opportunity to readdress the balance and help build a greener future.
How can you and your organisation get involved this Fairtrade fortnight?
There are plenty of ways to get involved and help raise awareness of the need to tackle trade and climate justice.
Host a Fairtrade lunch in the canteen
If you have a large canteen in your office, then speak to your catering supplier about ordering Fairtrade products for your colleagues to try. Or if you only have a small kitchen facility, then why not host a Fairtrade stall – to highlight all the product swaps people can make in their everyday life to purchase Fairtrade products and help achieve long-lasting climate action.
Pledge to switch to Fairtrade tea and coffee
A survey undertaken by office stationery supplier Avery UK, estimates that an office worker will drink 24,648 cups of tea over a 47-year career – so making a switch to Fairtrade products could add up to a make a big difference.
Download the Fairtrade Fortnight campaign support pack
The team at the Fairtrade Foundation has created a support pack full of resources to help you promote Fairtrade Fortnight across your business. With posters and social media graphics and lots of other useful tools, the pack is free to download.
However you chose to mark Fairtrade Fortnight, don’t forget to post about it on social media to help spread the word.
Find out more
To find out more about how we’re reducing our impact on the planet, click on the link below.