The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) aims to promote more sustainable forestry practices through the certification of sustainable forestry practices. A number of South African pulp and paper companies have forests certified in accordance with FSC requirements; several paper and packaging manufacturers and distributors specifically make use of FSC certified products due to consumer, peer and market pressures.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is a process designed to certify the origin of diamonds from sources that are free of conflict. The Kimberley Process is comprised of states and regional economic integration organisations (participants) who are eligible to trade in rough diamonds under the provisions of the KPCS. South Africa is a participating country.

The international chemical industry’s Responsible Care programme seeks to promote improved health, safety and environmental performance within the chemical industry and its service providers. The Chemical and Allied Industry’s Association (CAIA) administers the Responsible Care Programme locally; there are currently 131 signatories to the Responsible Care initiative. Key drivers include reputational and peer pressure.

The finance sector’s Equator Principles are a benchmark for the financial sector to manage social and environmental issues in project financing. In South Africa, four banks are signatories to these principles, namely Standard Bank, Nedbank FirstRand and Absa (through Barclays plc).

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) offer a menu of possible actions for incorporating environmental, social and governance issues into mainstream investment decision-making and ownership practices. Current South African signatories include the Government Employees Pension Fund, Advantage Asset Managers, Frater Asset Management and Empowerdex.

The Human Rights Compliance Assessment Tool is a diagnostic tool is designed to detect potential human rights violations caused by the effect of their operations on employees, local residents and all other stakeholders.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas, and mining.

There has been an increasing emphasis on fair trade and related certification systems, particularly in the food and clothing, and tourism sectors. In South Africa, these certification systems impact on food, wine and agricultural suppliers to European and North American food retailers.