The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD) and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) in the context of its Managing Global Governance (MGG) Knowledge Cooperation hosted an authors' workshop and policy dialogue on social and environmental ("sustainability") standards in global production and consumption. Such standards go much beyond product safety and quality as, among other criteria, the conditions and impacts of production are taken into account along value chains. Sustainability standards have created new business opportunities and complicated market access at the same time. Many of them are voluntary, especially those defined by non-state coalitions of NGOs and companies; others have taken the shape of mandatory public regulation.

The objective of the dialogue organized by CESD and DIE was to:

• Provide a platform for the creation of joint knowledge on sustainability standards by a variety of high-levels experts and stakeholders, bridging communication gaps
• Connect the technical debate on standards with broader concerns such as (Southern) ownership, “fair” global trade relations and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• Discuss best practice examples of business, civil society and politics across countries, generating new ideas for future research and implementation