UNTP General Updates
Please note that this content is under development and is not ready for implementation. This status message will be updated as content development progresses.
Terms of Reference
Following the split of the technical work on the core UNTP into four working groups, the former central UNTP Working Group will transition into a General UNTP Group. This group will serve as a hub for coordinating and sharing information and updates on the UNTP and the progress of the technical working groups. The group is open to anyone interested in learning about the UNTP and interoperability in the exchange of ESG data across global supply chains. It also provides a welcoming entry point for newcomers to the UNTP who may wish to engage more deeply with one of the technical working groups. As well as providing updates and general information about the UNTP, the group offers opportunities to ask questions and participate in discussions about the opportunities and challenges of the decentralized, interoperable exchange of verifiable, trustworthy and reliable ESG data. The General UNTP Group meets fortnightly and is moderated by the UNTP Project Lead.
Mailing List
A group mailing list is maintained and can be used by any list member to post messages to the group. The list also maintains an archive of all messages sent to the group.
- To join the mailing list - your request will be reviewed by a list administrator.
Meetings
UNTP general update meetings are held fortnightly at alternating times to accomodate participants from different timezones.
- Thursday 8am UTC Meetings. Every 4 weeks. Designed primarily to suit the European Timezone.
- Thursday 8pm UTC meetings. Every 4 weeks. Designed primarily to suit the US Timezone.
Use either of the links below to add the calendar entries to your diary
Previous meeting dates, recordings, and minutes are summarised below with the most recent meeting at the top.
Previous Meetings
2025-08-07-meeting-summary
Date: 7 August 2025 Facilitator: Steve Capell
Participants (named in transcript):
- Steve Capell (Chair, UNTP Lead)
- Brett (Conformity Group Lead)
- Michael (Adoption Group Lead)
- Nick (Supply Chain Group Lead)
- Zach (Technical Support/Contributor)
- Ashley (Technical Admin, GitLab/registration guidance)
- Harley Thomas (appointed Technical Group Lead – mentioned, not speaking)
- Matthias (UN Secretariat / Extensions Group)
- Virginia (Participant – login/access questions)
- Detlef (New participant – trust infrastructure/identity focus)
- Secretary’s representative (UN Secretariat, Speaker 6 – expressed support)
- Bertus (Participant – traceability/source discussion)
- Adriana (Adoption Group – language clarification)
Opening Remarks (Steve Capell):
-
Reiterated UN code of conduct and non-commercial nature of meetings.
-
Clarified IP contributions are shared freely under UNTP.
-
Reviewed subgroup structure: four working groups (Supply Chain, Conformity, Adoption, Technical), with momentum building at different rates.
-
Emphasised that detailed technical/content work should occur in working groups, not the main call.
-
Proposed distinction between:
- Steering Group Meetings (small, closed, UN-organised, addressing tricky project issues).
- Open Communication Meetings (general updates, broad participation, training, and topic-of-the-day discussions).
-
Announced migration from GitHub to UN-hosted GitLab for accessibility and neutrality. A new domain (e.g.,
untp.unece.org) is being prepared.
Secretariat Statement (Speaker 6):
- Confirmed full support for Steve’s proposal.
- Clarified: steering groups will remain closed; this open meeting is a communication forum for broad participation.
Participant Introductions and Questions:
-
Detlef: Introduced himself, interested in global trust infrastructure alignment (EIDAS in Europe vs. global registries). Asked which subgroup this belongs in.
-
Steve’s Response:
-
Two UNTP trust dimensions:
- Identity integrity → handled by UN Digital Identity Anchor (moving to Global Trust Register project).
- Claim veracity (sustainability claims) → remains in UNTP Conformity Group.
-
Suggested Detlef engage with both the Global Trust Register and UNTP Conformity Group.
-
-
Virginia: Asked about login issues with new UN GitLab.
- Steve & Ashley’s Response: Registration now possible, but contribution requires approval by project leads. Viewing remains public. Ashley clarified contributors can comment and raise issues, but need extra steps for specification edits.
Working Group Updates:
-
Supply Chain Group (Nick):
-
14 members (11 active). Seeking more practitioners with real-world data and schemes.
-
Focus: mapping between business disclosure schemes and UNTP data framework.
-
Current work:
- Battery Passport extension mapping.
- Chain-of-custody for chemicals in Europe.
- Potential extensions (Coppermark paused; possible shift to leather/textile).
-
Emphasised importance of cross-group communication (esp. with Conformity).
-
Implementation guidance in development.
-
Steve added: extensions will be industry-led, governed by UN, but overlap/conflict management remains a challenge.
-
Matthias (Extensions Group): Extensions require trusted industry associations as leads. Difficult sectors (e.g., textiles) will need strong consensus for semantic interoperability.
-
-
Conformity Group (Brett):
- 58 members, strong global expertise.
- Kickoff meeting on 15 July with ~28 participants.
- Work focuses on Sustainability Vocabulary Catalog (SVC) – a logical model linking conformity outcomes to claims in product passports.
- Subgroup (IEC, ISO, UCAS experts) confirmed model validity; will report back.
- Next meeting scheduled for next week.
-
Adoption Group (Michael):
- 25–26 members. Meetings scheduled in multiple time zones.
- Recently reissued Terms of Reference, broken into work packages. Assignments underway.
- Priority: define certification/implementation processes for organisations wanting to adopt UNTP.
- Coordination with Zach on GitLab processes.
- Collaboration with Matthias on extension governance.
- Steve shared a prototype AI tool (ChatGPT-based) to generate draft business cases for UNTP adoption from annual reports – group invited to test.
-
Technical Group:
- New lead appointed: Harley Thomas (Australia, long-time UNTP contributor).
- Will lead ongoing technical development, including decentralized access control.
Other Project Updates:
-
Meeting Management (Steve):
- Transitioning to Google Calendar for meeting subscriptions.
- UNTP website will host a unified calendar.
- Challenges with ICS file integration across platforms remain unresolved.
Topic of the Day: UNTP vs. Regulatory Passports (Steve):
-
Clarified differences:
- Regulatory Passports (e.g., EU DPP): consumer-facing, legal declarations for finished products.
- UNTP Passports: focus on upstream supply chain transparency (shipments of raw materials, intermediates, or components).
-
Each UNTP DPP applies only to the product/material at a given transaction step, not the entire end-to-end chain.
-
Challenge: managing confidentiality and supplier disclosure limits.
Discussion:
- Bertus: Raised parallels with diamond trade (“blood diamonds”) – importance of source-level traceability and risks of obfuscation.
- Steve: Confirmed UNTP supports redaction/obfuscation; highlighted ongoing challenges with bulk commodities and mass balance verification.
- Adriana: Suggested introducing clearer taxonomy (e.g., “Supplier DPP”, “Primary Resource DPP”) to avoid confusion, especially given SME participation in global trade.
Action Items:
- Steve to circulate link to GitLab registration guidance and confirm new workflow.
- Ashley to ensure contributor instructions are clear in GitLab templates.
- Nick to update Supply Chain group pages on UN GitLab with Steve’s help.
- Brett’s subgroup to report back on SVC findings to Conformity Group.
- Michael to assign Adoption Group work packages and circulate priorities.
- Steve to circulate AI business case tool for group testing and feedback.
- Secretariat/Matthias to finalise governance process for extensions (avoiding overlaps/conflicts).
- Explore taxonomy/terminology refinements for different categories of DPPs (Adoption Group).
- Steve to consolidate UNTP meeting calendar and improve cross-platform subscription options.