The expert advisory council
Further development is a key element of the Green Button. Step by step, the criteria of the label are being expanded. Independent experts provide advice and expertise to the Green Button.
The expert advisory council of the Green Button
An independent council
In March 2020 until December 2021, an independent advisory board was appointed. It had the important task of advising the scheme owner, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), on the further development of the government-run certification label for sustainable textiles.
The expert advisory council was consulted on crucial issues of further development, was informed about them and consulted for advice. For this purpose, regular formats such as Jour Fixe, workshops and multiple full-day council meetings per year took place.
Expertise from various fields of action
German Institute for Human Rights
‘The majority of workers in the textile sector are women. The further expansion of the certification label to other supply chain stages and living wages is also a clear commitment to no longer accept and address discrimination against women at the workplace and also in the informal sector upstream in the supply chain’
Berlin School of Economics and Law
‘The Corona Pandemic makes it clear that fair supply chains are needed to stabilise the living conditions of workers. The development of the Green Button towards living wages and functioning grievance mechanisms is therefore particularly close to my heart.’
The Federation of German Consumer Organisations
‘The Green Button is intended to make it easier to find socially and ecologically sustainable clothing and to shed light on the jungle of labels for textiles. However, in order for consumers to accept the label, the award criteria must be good and transparent. This is exactly what I will be doing on the advisory board.’
Head of Staff Division II, Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH
‘The Green Button is a reliable label for sustainably produced textiles that is subject to government-monitored control. Because the consumer must be able to trust the promises of the certification labels.’
Sustainability Expert
‘The Green Button system offers the opportunity to achieve significant progress in the implementation of environmental and social requirements in global supply chains. In the case of human rights, this applies in particular to the payment of living wages and the freedom of trade unions and collective bargaining.’
What does the work of the expert advisory council look like?
The members of the expert advisory council support the further development of the label.
- The independent expert advisory council has helped to further develop the requirements of the Green Button.
- In council meetings, the experts discussed to what extent an expansion and a sharpening of the criteria in the Green Button Standard 2.0 is necessary in order to protect textile workers and the environment even better.
- The tasks included commenting on draft criteria, also in view of current developments in the textile industry.
- The expert advisory council made proposals and published its summarised recommendations on the design of the Green Button 2.0 criteria.
Statement on the Green Button 2.0
The expert advisory council has discussed the draft of the corporate criteria for the Green Button 2.0 and subsequently made its recommendations on the design of the criteria. This statement is available for download here.
In a further council meeting in summer 2021 as well as a final meeting in autumn 2021, the discussion of the overall standard was then on the agenda. Here, the draft of the product criteria for the Green Button 2.0 was also considered in interaction with the corporate criteria. A statement by the advisory board will follow.