Commodities, states one internet definition, are basically any product that is essentially ‘undifferentiated’. A product is considered a commodity if there is no difference between it and other versions produced by different companies, thus enabling the product to be traded on a commodities exchange.

The other predominant characteristic of commodities is that they are inordinately important to developing countries (see page 22). More than 50 developing countries depend on three or fewer commodities for more than half of their export earnings, with coffee at one stage contributing as much as 79% of Burundi’s export earnings. What is more, commodities are usually basic, unrefined materials taken directly from the environment, making commodity production the source of profound and pervasive environmental impacts covering productive sectors from agriculture and fisheries to minerals and mining (see page 20).

In this issue of Radar, we ask, can there be sustainable commodities?