From Formal Compliance to Substantive Coherence: Social Verifiability Gaps in Global Forest Sustainability Frameworks
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study examined the structural limitations that prevented major international sustainability frameworks —GRI, SASB, TCFD, TNFD, and FSC— from translating their formal commitments into verifiable social outcomes, understood here as impacts backed by auditable and territorially contrastable evidence, within forest sustainability. Drawing on an integrative critical review of 145 documents, including peer-reviewed articles, institutional standards, and technical reports published between 2010 and 2024, the study identified two persistent patterns. The first reflected a disconnection between the formal adoption of standards and the availability of evidence on verifiable social impacts. The second revealed a sustained asymmetry between the technical precision of the environmental component and the methodological vagueness of the social component. The findings showed that this disparity did not arise solely from the complexity of social phenomena, but also from institutional choices that privileged what could be standardized, audited, and more easily legitimized. The study argued that moving from formal compliance toward substantive coherence required three complementary shifts: the co-creation of social indicators with local communities, the establishment of independent social audits, and the strengthening of territorial participation in defining and evaluating impact. Taken together, these findings provided an analytical and propositional basis for redesigning accountability frameworks in forest sustainability.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Revista Forestal Mesoamericana Kurú is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Al enviar un artículo a la Revista Forestal Mesoamericana kurú (RFMK), los autores ceden los derechos patrimoniales a la editorial de la RFMK una vez su manuscrito haya sido aprobado para publicación, autorizando a la RFMK a editarlo, reproducirlo, distribuirlo, y publicarlo en formato físico y/o electrónico. La titularidad de los derechos morales sobre los trabajos objeto de esta cesión seguirá perteneciendo a los autores.
References
[1] J. Bebbington and J. Unerman, “Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: An enabling role for accounting research,” Account. Audit. Account. J., vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 2–24, 2018, doi: 10.1108/AAAJ-05-2017-2929
[2] Global Reporting Initiative, “GRI Standards 2021”. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: GRI, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.globalreporting.org/standards
[3] Banco Mundial, “El sueño de la forestería comunitaria en la Amazonía: una entrevista con Rodrigo Botero García,” Banco Mundial, Mar. 20, 2020. [En línea]. Disponible en: https://www.bancomundial.org/es/news/feature/2020/03/20/the-dream-of-community-forestry-in-the-amazon-an-interview-with-rodrigo-botero-garcia
[4] C. Sabogal, W. de Jong, B. Pokorny, and B. Louman, Eds., “Manejo forestal comunitario en América Latina: experiencias, lecciones aprendidas y retos para el futuro,” Bogor, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 2008, doi: 10.17528/cifor/002640. [Online]. Available: https://www.cifor-icraf.org/knowledge/publication/2640
[5] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “El estado de los bosques del mundo 2022: Vías forestales hacia la recuperación verde y la creación de economías inclusivas, resilientes y sostenibles,” Rome, Italy: FAO, 2022, doi: 10.4060/cb9360es. [Online]. Available: https://www.fao.org/3/cb9360es/cb9360es.pdf
[6] Fundación PRISMA, “Lecciones sobre Forestería Comunitaria en Mesoamérica,” San Salvador, El Salvador, Apr. 2017. [Online]. Available: https://prismaregional.org/publicaciones/lecciones-sobre-foresteria-comunitaria-en-mesoamerica
[7] D. Stoian, A. Rodas, M. Butler, I. Monterroso, and B. Hodgdon, “Las concesiones forestales en Petén, Guatemala: Un análisis sistemático del desempeño socioeconómico de las empresas comunitarias en la Reserva de la Biósfera Maya,” Bogor, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.cifor-icraf.org/knowledge/publication/7160
[8] B. Pokorny, C. Sabogal, W. de Jong, D. Stoian, B. Louman, P. Pacheco, and N. M. Porro, “Experiencias y retos del manejo forestal comunitario en América Tropical,” Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, no. 54, pp. 81–98, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/6306
[9] G. LeBaron, J. Lister, and P. Dauvergne, “Governing global supply chain sustainability through the ethical audit regime,” Globalizations, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 958–975, 2017, doi: 10.1080/14747731.2017.1304008.
[10] O. Boiral, “Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A+ GRI reports,” Account. Audit. Account. J., vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 1036–1071, 2013, doi: 10.1108/AAAJ-04-2012-00998.
[11] O. Boiral and Y. Gendron, “Sustainable development and certification practices: Lessons learned and prospects,” Bus. Strategy Environ., vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 331–347, 2011, doi: 10.1002/bse.701.
[12] M. J. Milne and R. Gray, "W(h)ither ecology? The triple bottom line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and corporate sustainability reporting," J. Bus. Ethics, vol. 118, no. 1, pp. 13 –29, 2013, doi: 10.1007/s10551-012-1543-8.
[13] W. N. Espeland and M. L. Stevens, “A sociology of quantification,” Eur. J. Sociol., vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 401–436, 2008, doi: 10.1017/S0003975609000150.
[14] B. Cashore, G. Auld, and D. Newsom, “Governing Through Markets: Forest Certification and the Emergence of Non-State Authority,” New Haven, CT, USA: Yale Univ. Press, 2004. [Online]. Available: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300101096/governing-through-markets.
[15] R. Whittemore and K. Knafl, "The integrative review: Updated methodology," J. Adv. Nurs., vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 546 – 553, 2005, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x.
[16] R. J. Torraco, "Writing integrative literature reviews: Guidelines and examples," Hum. Resour. Dev. Rev., vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 356 – 367, 2005, doi: 10.1177/1534484305278283.
[17] A. Sen, “The Idea of Justice,” Cambridge, MA, USA: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press, 2009, doi: 10.2307/j.ctvjnrv7n.
[18] Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, “Final Report: Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures,” Basel, Switzerland: Financial Stability Board, Jun. 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.fsb.org/2017/06/recommendations-of-the-task-force-on-climate-related-financial-disclosures-2
[19] Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, “Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Recommendations,” London, U.K.: TNFD, Sep. 2023. [Online]. Available: https://tnfd.global/publication/recommendations-of-the-taskforce-on-nature-related-financial-disclosures
[20] S. Schaltegger and R. Burritt, "Business cases and corporate engagement with sustainability: Differentiating ethical motivations," J. Bus. Ethics, vol. 147, no. 2, pp. 241 – 259, 2018, doi: 10.1007/s10551-015-2938-0.
[21] D. Moher, A. Liberati, J. Tetzlaff, D. G. Altman, and The PRISMA Group, “Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement,” PLoS Med., vol. 6, no. 7, p. e1000097, 2009, doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097.
[22] J. P. T. Higgins and S. Green, Eds., “Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, Version 5.1.0,” The Cochrane Collaboration, Mar. 2011. [Online]. Available: https://www.cochrane.org/authors/handbooks-and-manuals/handbook/archive/v5.1.0
[23] V. Braun and V. Clarke, "Using thematic analysis in psychology," Qual. Res. Psychol., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 77 – 101, 2006, doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
[24] Forest Stewardship Council, “FSC Principles and Criteria for Forest Stewardship,” FSC-STD-01-001 V5-3, Bonn, Germany: FSC International, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://connect.fsc.org/document-centre/documents/resource/392
[25] S. Bass, K. Thornber, M. Markopoulos, S. Roberts, and M. Grieg-Gran, “Certification’s Impacts on Forests, Stakeholders and Supply Chains,” Instruments for Sustainable Private Sector Forestry Series, London, U.K.: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), May 2001. [Online]. Available: https://www.iied.org/9013iied.
[26] F. Ehrenberg-Azcárate and M. Peña-Claros, “Twenty years of forest management certification in the tropics: Major trends through time and among continents,” For. Policy Econ., vol. 111, Art. no. 102050, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.forpol.2019.102050.
[27] J. Imaña Encinas, M. A. Camargo Ferreira, G. Riesco Muñoz, and A. Rojo Alboreca, “Verificadores de sostenibilidad en inventarios forestales del bosque amazónico en el estado de Mato Grosso (Brasil),” Rev. Mex. Cienc. For., vol. 13, no. 72, pp. 30–54, 2022, doi: 10.29298/rmcf.v13i72.1179. [Online]. Available: https://cienciasforestales.inifap.gob.mx/index.php/forestales/article/view/1179
[28] A. Blackman, L. Goff, and M. Rivera Planter, “Does eco-certification stem tropical deforestation? Forest Stewardship Council certification in Mexico,” J. Environ. Econ. Manage., vol. 89, pp. 306–333, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.04.005.
[29] Forest Stewardship Council, “Reporte anual 2022,” Bonn, Germany: FSC International, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://fsc.org/es/reportes-anuales-del-fsc.
[30] Instituto Forestal Nacional, “Gestión forestal sostenible: la FAO otorga reconocimiento internacional al INFONA,” Oct. 2025. [Online]. Available: https://infona.gov.py/infona-recibe-reconocimiento-internacional-por-por-su-liderazgo-en-la-gestion-forestal-sostenible.
[31] J. E. Sanhueza and M. Antonissen, “REDD+ en América Latina. Estado actual de las estrategias de reducción de emisiones por deforestación y degradación forestal,” LC/W.603, Santiago, Chile: CEPAL, Jun. 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.cepal.org/es/publicaciones/36810-redd-america-latina-estado-actual-estrategias-reduccion-emisiones-deforestacion.
[32] Montréal Process Working Group, “Montréal Process: Synthesis of indicator trends 1990 to 2020 and future outlooks,” Scion, New Zealand, Sep. 2023. [Online]. Available: https://montreal-process.org/documents/publications/techreports/MontrealProcessSynthesisReport2023EnglishONLINE.pdf.
[33] Ministerio de Ambiente, Agua y Transición Ecológica del Ecuador, “Tercer resumen de información del abordaje y respeto de las salvaguardas sociales y ambientales REDD+ en Ecuador,” Quito, Ecuador: MAATE, Dec. 2022. [Online]. Available: https://redd.unfccc.int/media/3er_res__men_informaci__n_salvaguardas_redd__ecuador.pdf.
[34] FAO and FILAC, “Los pueblos indígenas y tribales y la gobernanza de los bosques: una oportunidad para la acción climática en América Latina y el Caribe,” Santiago, Chile: FAO, 2021, doi: 10.4060/cb2953es. [Online]. Available: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/cb2953es.
[35] D. Bernaola Regout, “Decolonizing knowledge on forest conservation: A study on indigenous peoples’ participation and knowledge inclusion in forest and biodiversity conservation for climate change mitigation in San Martin, Peru,” M.Sc. thesis, Dept. Geography, Planning and International Development, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://scripties.uba.uva.nl/download?fid=c6883286.
[36] S. R. Arnstein, “A ladder of citizen participation,” J. Am. Inst. Plann., vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 216–224, 1969, doi: 10.1080/01944366908977225.
[37] Forest Peoples Programme, “How to re-build confidence in the audit system of certification schemes,” Moreton-in-Marsh, U.K.: Forest Peoples Programme, Nov. 20, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.forestpeoples.org/publications-resources/reports/article/how-to-re-build-confidence-in-the-audit-system-of-certification-schemes.
[38] M. Orjuela Vásquez, “Gobernanza para el manejo forestal comunitario en la Reserva de la Biosfera Maya, Petén, Guatemala y la Región Autónoma de la Costa Caribe Norte de Nicaragua: cuatro casos de estudio desde la perspectiva de los actores locales,” M.Sc. thesis, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 2015. [Online]. Available: https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/8510.
[39] I. Monterroso, D. Stoian, S. Lawry, and A. Rodas, “Investigación y política sobre concesiones forestales comunitarias en Petén, Guatemala: Lecciones aprendidas y desafíos pendientes,” CIFOR Infobrief No. 236, Bogor, Indonesia: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), 2018, doi: 10.17528/cifor/007044. [Online]. Available: https://www.cifor-icraf.org/knowledge/publication/7044
[40] European Union, “Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010,” Official Journal of the European Union, L 150, pp. 206–247, Jun. 9, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1115/oj.