Driving the Ecological Transition of Agriculture through Voluntary Certification of Environmental Impacts: An Exploratory Literature Review on the Olive-Oil Sector

1 Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture (ELGO-DIMITRA), Leoforos Karamanli 167,GR-73100 Chania, Greece; [email protected] Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM), Agrokipio, GR-73100 Chania, Greece3 SEO/BirdLife, GEOLIT, Parque Científico y Tecnológico, Manzana 11, C/Sierra Morena,Complejo Tecnológico de Servicios Avanzados, Primera Planta, Local 1.1, 23620 Mengíbar, Jaén, Spain;[email protected] Dipartimento delle Culture Europee e del Mediterraneo: Architettura, Ambiente, Patrimoni Culturali,Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy; [email protected] Department of Agriculture (AGRARIA), Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Feo di Vito,89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy; [email protected]* Correspondence: [email protected]: Human population growth has resulted in increased food consumption, followed byagrifood production intensification. Human activities have a significant impact on the environment,causing, among other things, air and water pollution and biodiversity degradation. In an internationalcontext where there is strong concern about environmental issues, it is also necessary to direct foodproduction towards more sustainable models. In this context, the use of frameworks for certifyingthe environmental footprint of agrifood products can be a lever to promote sustainable productionand consumption. The objective of this paper is to explore the opportunities for certifying theenvironmental footprint of products, focusing in particular on some of the main environmentalclaims: global warming, water depletion, and biodiversity loss. The olive sector was selected as acase study since it is the major tree crop in the Mediterranean countries, and it has strong impactson human health and the environment. We employed a literature review in the SCOPUS databaseand the knowledge of experts in the main environmental certification sectors. The study revealedthe possibility of adopting various mitigation strategies and improving environmental performance,while also pursuing certain market objectives related to certified products.