The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) is a neutral and non-profit global consortium. Its mission is to accelerate sustainability in agriculture via mutual partnerships and assessment tools that advance their understanding and management of social, economic, and environmental impacts.

Mission

To advance systematic and science-based measurement tools for understanding, managing, and accelerating sustainability.

Principles

They each hold different ideas about what is “sustainable”. Yet, in practical terms, they can only advance a discussion on sustainability if they understand a common and transparent “language”.  Just as tools have been developed and standardized to facilitate the communication about so many things from weather reports to Generally Accepted Accounting Practices, they all benefit from standardized tools to measure and communicate sustainability.  

These principles reflect their values and serve as the foundation of what they do.

1. An open consortium of partners benefits from the ongoing and cumulative mutual learning and collaboration among the dozens of institutions and leading firms.
2. Common indicators take learning to a new level and reduce confusion in this complex area. The consistent measurement of sustainability improves project designs, facilitates effective comparison and more standardized assessment, and reduces the costly waste of repetitive studies.
3. Local capacity integrating national partner institutions helps COSA to achieve local relevance and a richer contextual understanding.
4. A multi-dimensional view offers a systemic understanding in order to manage the inevitable choices and trade-offs of the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic, environmental) .
5. International validity and best practice in sustainability assessment is vital in COSA’s alignment of with many internationally recognized multilateral references and accords.