London, England: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently released a new global report illustrating how credible, third-party sustainability standards and certification systems can help companies, and whole industries, deliver against the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The report highlighted the credibility and value of golf’s own third-party sustainability standard and certification system, developed and managed by the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO).
The report concluded that credible standards and certification can provide direct business benefits including efficiencies and better understanding of environmental dependencies, along with new business-to-business and business-to-consumer advantages.
Fundamental to providing these benefits, WWF highlights, is credibility. To achieve this, systems must deliver real and measurable sustainability outcomes.
Golf was included in the report as a member of the ISEAL Alliance, the global body that oversees many of the world’s most credible sustainability standards and assurance systems.
GEO has been a member of ISEAL for three years, alongside other well respected standards such as Fairtrade, The Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

“It’s great to see the sport of golf represented in this report – alongside all those other major primary industry and commodity systems,” said Jonathan Smith, CEO of GEO. “Achieving this level of recognition is a result of the efforts of a large number of people who have contributed to the development of credible sustainability standards, recording, reporting and certification for golf, and of strategic partners, like The R&A, whose investment has made it possible.
“I think it also speaks to the critical importance of innovation in sustainability. Society can only hope to address these major environmental and social issues with a collective effort, and as this report demonstrates, golf is starting to play a very meaningful and credible part. It’s exciting to think how, using credible solutions, golf can take sustainability to people and places other sectors cannot reach”.
Further Information on GEO Certified, the voluntary sustainability standard and certification system for golf facilities, developments and tournaments, can be found at www.golfenvironment.org