Sustainable Coconut Charter: a new framework to strengthen sustainability and traceability in the coconut industry

In 2026, the coconut industry continues to evolve rapidly in the face of challenges related to sustainability, transparency, and regulatory compliance. Pressures on the sector — aging plantations, weak upstream structures, increased buyer demands — make common frameworks essential for harmonizing practices and strengthening market resilience. It is in this context that the Sustainable Coconut Charter (SCC) has established itself as an industry benchmark for structuring sustainable commitments.

• Why a charter dedicated to the coconut industry?

The coconut sector still suffers from a significant gap between sustainability ambitions and reality on the ground: less than 1% of global production currently follows a structured assurance system, and supply chains remain difficult to map. The organizations of the Sustainable Coconut Partnership, a multi-stakeholder platform, are working to bridge this gap by defining appropriate and verifiable standards.

• The ambitions of the Sustainable Coconut Charter

The SCC aims to transform the industry through five major objectives:

📌 Increase transparency in often fragmented supply chains;

📌 Reduce regulatory risk as ESG requirements strengthen globally;

📌 Stimulate sustainable market transformation by encouraging responsible practices from upstream to downstream;

📌 Make investments safer by creating a solid, shared framework;

📌 Reduce the sustainability gap identified by SCP members in their sectoral analyses.

• Two complementary standards at the heart of the Charter

To respond to the diversity of stakeholders and the realities of the sector, the SCC is based on two distinct standards:

1. Origin Standard

A production and processing level verification for "sustainable coconut production” verifying volumes of product compliant with the Sustainable Coconut Charter (SCC). The standard may be applied at the local/jurisdictional/landscape/island levels.

2. Supply Chain Standard

A company level verification for organizations sourcing and processing coconut products enabling overarching company-level verification on the organization’s transparency, sustainability and mobilization towards responsible rejuvenation. It promotes market transformation and collaboration among sectoral change-makers, signalling to the market that the organization is a responsible trade partner committed to creating a responsible and resilient coconut sector.

Together, these standards provide a consistent view of the sustainable performance of the entire value chain.

• Ecocert's role in this system

As a third-party verification body, Ecocert audits both SCC standards.

Its role is to:

📌 Verify compliance with the Charter's criteria

📌 Ensure independent assessment of practices

📌 Contribute to the credibility and overall alignment of the system

This approach is in line with the SCP's objective of establishing a robust and consistent sectoral assurance system designed to enable the gradual ramp-up of sustainable initiatives.

📩 Would you like to know more about the SCC or the associated audits? Contact us.