The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) exists in order to respond to current impacts of cotton production. It aims to promote measurable improvements in the key environmental and social impacts of cotton cultivation worldwide to make it more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable. Since 2005, the BCI has been working with organisations from across the cotton supply chain and interested stakeholders to facilitate a solution for the mainstream cotton sector. The BCI's philosophy is to develop a market for a new mainstream commodity: ‘Better Cotton’ and thereby transform the cotton commodity to bring long-term benefits for the environment, farmers and other people dependent on cotton for their livelihood. The first Better Cotton harvest started in 2010 in India, Mali and Pakistan, with the first harvest in Brazil anticipated mid-2011.

In January 2008, Cadbury's established the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP) with the United Nations Development Programme, local governments, farmers and communities. This ground-breaking partnership aims to secure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of around a million cocoa farmers and their communities in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean. Over ten years £45 million GBP will be invested through the partnership to improve farmer incomes, develop communities and build partnerships.

GLOBALG.A.P is a private sector body that sets voluntary standards for the certification of agricultural products around the globe. The GLOBALG.A.P standard is primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimizing detrimental environmental impacts of farming operations, reducing the use of chemical inputs and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety as well as animal welfare. The Green Commodities Facility works with GLOBALG.A.P National Technical Working Groups and members to build on their work in the Commodity Platforms and developing national commodity strategies.

The Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) brings together government, NGOs and industry to mainstream sustainable commodity markets, enhance the private sector in commodity-producing communities, and contribute to the Millennium Development Goals.  IDH is expanding its cocoa portfolio, and has partnered with UNDP to create policy roundtables in key cocoa-producing countries. The goal of this project is to create opportunities for sector dialogue around major cocoa policy issues. The first step in this project is to define national cocoa sector policy agendas for discussion and debate. UNDP will organize policy roundtables involving industry, key NGOs and Government ministries. It is envisaged that creating these unique opportunities for dialogue will create trust between key players in the cocoa sector and lead to important policy reform. UNDP will be the primary implementing partner in this initiative, which will be delivered over three years.

Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) is a programme aimed at enhancing transparency on private standards and increasing opportunities for sustainable production and trade. The main project output is a web-based interactive tool called Standards Map that centralizes, organizes and disseminates information on the variety of private standards to enable producers, exporters and buyers to increase their opportunities to participate in sustainable production and trade. The International Trade Centre (ITC) enables small businesses’ export success in developing countries by providing, with partners, trade development solutions to the private sector, trade support institutions and policy-makers. ITC also provides on-line tools that compliment Standard Map, such as Trade Map and Market Access Map and conducts training programmes in market analysis for trade policy makers, trade support institutions and the business community in developing countries.

Rainforest Alliance (RA) uses the power of markets to arrest the major drivers of deforestation and environmental destruction: timber extraction, agricultural expansion, cattle ranching and tourism. RA works to ensure millions of acres of working forests, farms, ranchlands and hotel properties are managed according to rigorous sustainability standards. By linking those businesses to conscientious consumers, who identify their goods and services through the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal and Rainforest Alliance Verified™ mark, they demonstrate that sustainable practices can help businesses thrive in the modern economy. RA and UNDP have partnered in various biodiversity protection fronts, particularly working to certify coffee in Central (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) and South America (Brazil, Colombia and Peru), and certifying forestry products in Mexico. This partnership has been key to bringing farmers, local governments and multiple other stakeholders to the table, promoting and advancing in sustainable agriculture initiatives.

The Sustainable Commodity Assistance Network (SCAN) is a partnership of 20 key global standards bodies, technical assistance institutions, and other stakeholders, facilitated by the Sustainable Commodity Initiative (SCI). It aims to promote sustainability in commodity production and trade by providing a global framework for enabling management and production improvements at the producer level. More specifically, SCAN offers a set of concrete tools, training and resources for enabling producers to participate sustainably in international markets through the adoption of sound business management practices. The Green Commodities Facility forms part of the management advisory board of SCAN.