The World Fair Trade Organisation is a global community of social enterprises that practice Fair Trade, which means implementing a business model that puts the needs of people and the planet first.
The World Fair Trade Day is celebrated every second Saturday in May. The aim of this celebration is to recognise those enterprises that work for sustainable development introducing responsible production practices, gender equality in the workplace and supporting small producers.
This Saturday we celebrate World Fair Trade day. This year, the theme is named “Planet Fair Trade, Enterprises for the new economy”, focusing on the importance of enterprises that apply the Fair Trade principles in their business model as a hope for the future of our planet. A perfectly apt theme, now, more than ever, as we adapt to cope with a global pandemic that has forced our economies to slow down.
It also makes it so clear how a huge part of our society is still so vulnerable.
The ultimate aim of maximising profit that has driven the economy for the last century has lead to vast environmental damage and huge social inequality. As the Indian author Arundhati Roy wrote in her article for the Financial Times “The Pandemic is a portal”, this pandemic is offering us a chance to rethink the “doomsday machine” we have built for ourselves and instead of going back to “normality”, this is an opportunity to break with a past of “avarice” and “smoky skies” and fight for a new world.
It has never been more crucial for enterprises to prioritise environmental and social well-being in order to lead a new economy and create a more sustainable and equal world.
Author: Johana Mora Solorzano