GlobalThresholds&AllocationsCouncil

APartnershipforSustainable&RegenerativeResourceManagementSummaryThe r3.0 Platform is incubating a multi-stakeholder Global Thresholds & Allocations Council(GTAC) as advisory governance body for establishing authoritative means for measuring,accounting, and reporting environmental, social, and economic performance in relation togenerally acceptedboundaries and limits.GTACwill operate as a partnership between leadingvoicesinscience,business,investment,government,civilsociety,etc…,focusedonassessingandvalidating threshold determinations, as well as methodologies for allocating fair shares ofresponsibilitytoentities fortheir impactsonthestocksandflowsofcapitals–natural,human,social and other resources – within their carrying capacities. Building on extant efforts toestablishscience-andethics-basedtargets,GTACwillaccelerateprogresstowardcontextualizingsustainabilityquantifications commensuratewith theecological, social andeconomicurgenciesfacing societies (and entities within them) in the coming decades, with a goal of ultimatelyachievingregenerationofvitalcapitalresources.Need

Sustainabilityrequirescontextualizationwithinthresholds;that’swhatsustainabilityisallabout.AllenWhite,Co-Founder,GlobalReportingInitiative

Thepartcanneverbewellunlessthewholeiswell.

Plato,Charmides,380BCE

The Great Acceleration datasets of socio-economic and earth system trends unequivocallydemonstratethatthe“parts”andthe“whole”oftheEarthsystemareunwell,resultinginasetof“hockeystick”graphsofexponentialsystemicdegenerationacrosstheboard.

The Stockholm Resilience Centre’s Planetary Boundaries research finds that humanity is“overshooting”fourofnineecologicalceilings,andDoughnutEconomicsbuildsuponthistoalsodocumentsimilar“shortfalls”onsocialfoundations.

Theinextricablelinkbetweentheecologicalandsocialsystems’health(or“illth,”asrepresentedintheseboundary-crossings)ontheonehand,andorganizationalimpactsontheotherhand,liesat the heart of the Sustainability Context Principle, first introduced in the Global ReportingInitiative’ssecondgenerationSustainabilityReportingGuidelinesin2002:

[P]lacing performance information in the broader biophysical, social, and economiccontext lies at the heart of sustainability reporting... This will involve discussing theperformanceoftheorganisation inthecontextofthe limitsanddemandsplacedoneconomic,environmental,orsocialresourcesatamacro-level(emphasisadded).

However, despite the centrality of Context in sustainability reporting, the Principle remainsconspicuously absent from almost all sustainability reports produced since then. Acomprehensive 2017 study examined 40,000+ sustainability reports released since 2000, andfound only 0.258% of companies (31 of 9,000) disclosing their environmental impacts in thecontext of ecological limits — including strategies for meeting these limits. And only 5% ofreportsinthestudyperiodcitedecologicallimitsatall.

A2015UNEPreporthighlightstwoconceptsasinstrumentalforapplyingSustainabilityContext:

● Thresholds that demarcate the carrying capacities of vital capital resources (natural, social,human, constructed, financial) and therefore divide sustainable from unsustainableperformance;

● Allocationsthatapportiontocompaniesfairsharesofresponsibilityandaccountabilityfortheirpositive and negative impacts on common capital resources that are vital to stakeholderwellbeing.

Thatsameyear,theUnitedNationsagreedtotheSustainableDevelopmentGoals,whichidentifya series of social, environmental and economic systems in danger, and propose trajectoriestowardsustainability.ForcompaniestocontributetothefulfillmentoftheSDGs,theywillneedtotranslate them intobusiness-relevant thresholdsandset fair, justandproportionateallocationsfortheirresponsibilities.

ThereportcontainstwokeyrecommendationspertainingtoSustainabilityContext:

● All companies should apply a context-based approach to sustainability reporting, allocatingtheir fair share impacts on common capital resourceswithin the thresholds of their carryingcapacities;

● Multilateralorganizationsshouldcollaboratetocreateaglobalgovernancebodyofscientists,academics, business practitioners, NGOs and other stakeholders to provide guidance onmethodologies for determining ecological (and social) thresholds, as well as guidance onapproachestoallocations,allofwhicharebroadlyapplicabletothebusinesslevel.

ThisproposaladvancesUNEP’ssecondrecommendationasavehicleforfulfillingitsfirst–aswellasfulfillingtheSDGs.DefinitionsGTAChasrefinedthedefinitionsfromtheUNEPreportasfollows:● Thresholdsdefinetheupperandlowerlimitsofthecarryingcapacitiesofvitalcapitalresources

(natural,human,social,constructed,economic),whichmustbeproducedand/ormaintainedinordertoensurestakeholderwell-being;

● Allocationsapportiontoorganizationsorotherhumanpopulationsfair,justandproportionatesharesoftheresponsibilitytoproduceand/ormaintainvitalcapitalsatnoworsethanthresholdlevels.

Mission

● Identify thresholds & norms for sustaining the carrying capacities of systems-level capitalresources inthecommonsthatarevital tostakeholderwellbeing,basedonacomprehensivereviewofresearchinphysicalandsocialsciencesandpracticeinthefield.

● Designandvalidateallocationmethodologiesthatapportionfairshareresponsibilityforjointlypreservingandenrichingcapitalresourcesvitaltostakeholderwellbeing.

● Disseminateconsensus-basedthresholds/norms/allocationswith“off-the-shelf”ease-of-use inmindtofacilitateglobalmainstreamingofsuchpractices.

CompositionGTACwill comprise amix of scientists and practitionerswith expertise in the fields of physical &socialsciences,business, investment,government,civilsociety,andotherrelevantareas,attendingtodiversityofperspective,culture,geography,gender,etc…

Activities

● Assess the science and ethics of sustainability thresholds to identify and validate thresholdlevels across social, ecological, and economic impact areas that companies and otherorganizationscanapplytotheiroperationsandvaluechains;

● Assess and validate methodologies for allocating fair shares of Common capitals toorganizationswiththegoalofproviding“off-the-shelf”metricsforeaseofuse.

Governance

Duringitsincubation,theCouncil’sgovernanceshallfallunderthepurviewofOnCommons,thenon-profit parent of the Reporting 3.0 Platform,with a Steering Board overseeing the integrity of theprocess. As the incubationmatures, the Steering Boardwill assess expanded governance options,includingcreationofanindependententityorrelocationtosuitablehost.

Partners

OnCommons / Reporting 3.0 is actively seeking Partners with an interest in the activities of theCouncil,suchastheGlobalReportingInitiativeandtheUnitedNationsGlobalCompact.Inaddition,OnCommons /Reporting3.0also seeksalignmentwithkindredentities suchas theScienceBasedTargets Initiative and the start-upWorld Benchmarking Alliance. GTAC is committed tomaximumcollaboration to ensure rigorous, expeditious, and consensus-based progress toward generallyacceptedthresholdsandallocations.

Funding

TheGTACisseekingfundingfromfoundations,governmentsandotherdonorsintwophases:

● PhaseOne:SetthenecessarystructuresandworkenvironmentoftheGTAC,includingSteeringBoard,Councilmembers,andnecessarysecretariatfunctions

○ Budget:€100k○ Goal:SoftlaunchinQ3/2019

● PhaseTwo:FormallylaunchattheReporting3.0ConferenceinJune2019withthreeyearsofcommittedfundinginordertoinitiateGTAC’sfunction,asoutlinedaboveunder“Activities.”

○ Budget:€1m/yearforthreeyears○ Goal:FormallaunchinQ22020.

The InterimSecretariat functionofOnCommonsprovidesaGerman-incorporated,non-profitentityforfundraisingpurposes.

Contacts

RalphThurm|ManagingDirector|OnCommons/r3.0r.thurm@r3-0.org+31646001452BillBaue|SeniorDirector|r3.0b.baue@r3-0.org+14133875824

TestimonialQuotes

"Sustainability requirescontextualizationwithin thresholds; that’swhatsustainability isallabout.Yet tothis day, contextualization rarely appears in sustainability reports. The Global Thresholds & AllocationsCouncil seeks to close this Context Gap by validating and,where necessary, developing thresholds andallocationmethodologies.Bydoingso,itwillenablecompaniestoimplementContextinconcertwithanindependent,trustedandauthoritativeexpertsource.”AllenWhite,Co-Founder,GlobalReportingInitiative"Ifwe are to create 21st century economies and businesses that canmeet the needs of allwithin themeansoftheplanet,thentheGlobalThresholds&AllocationsCouncilisjustthekindofinitiativethatcanstartmakingithappen.”KateRaworth,Author,DoughnutEconomics“The UN Guiding Principles provide business the authoritative global standard on human rights, so IwelcometheestablishmentofaGlobalThresholds&AllocationsCounciltovetandvalidatesuchnorms,standards,andthresholdsacrossallimpactareas(social,ecological,economic)asawaytoinstitutionalizerespectforsocial,ecological,andeconomicsystemsinlightofinherentreal-worldlimitsandrights.”

JohnRuggie,formerUNSpecialRepresentativeforBusiness&HumanRights

“Nothing is more important now for global society than to compare the increase or decrease ofregenerative wealth through an economic system with the dynamic equilibrium which its ecology canoptimally'carry'orsustaintomeettheneedsofitspeople.TheGlobalThresholds&AllocationsCouncil’svettingofguidelinesforactualthroughputandcarryingcapacitywillenablebusinessesandgovernmentstomanagehowthe thresholdsof resourcesavailable inanenvironmentarebestallocated toeveryonelivingwithinthatenvironment.”

JamesQuilligan,SeniorAdvisor,EconomicDemocracyAdvocates&PeertoPeerFoundation