Traceability Tools Navigator: creating transparency in a fragmented sustainability tech market

Developed in collaboration with WWF and partly sponsored by ISEAL Innovations Fund, the new Traceability Tools Navigator aims to provide a neutral overview of available systems. The initiative is non-profit, and, Stäuble stresses, deliberately avoids commercial bias.

“There’s a totally free market,” he says. “Regulators cannot favour any tools. So, operators and other supply chain actors are left navigating a very dynamic ecosystem.”

“The idea was to create a neutral source of information that makes tools  comparable along a common feature framework.” 

Tobias Stäuble

Global Traceability Lead at Preferred by Nature

A wave of tools

Demand for traceability has grown sharply, driven by legislation such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), alongside certification schemes and corporate ESG commitments. Many of these requirements hinge on companies’ ability to gather and analyse supply chain data, including geolocation and deforestation risk.

In response, a wave of new providers has entered the market, offering solutions that range from data collection at harvest to satellite-based forest monitoring.

“The need for traceability has increased over the past years due to several drivers,” Stäuble explains. “But with that, there is also confusion. Several user groups have expressed the need for clarity on how these tools work and what they offer.”

Breaking down silos

The Navigator does not rank or endorse products. Instead, it maps tools against a shared feature framework developed through extensive consultation with experts, tool providers and users. However, by the end of 2026, an optional fee-based validation process will be added.

“The idea was to create a neutral source of information that makes tools  comparable along a common feature framework,” says Stäuble.

At its core, the project is about interoperability and alignment. By making functionalities visible – from commodity coverage to risk assessment capabilities – the partners hope to reduce duplication and encourage compatibility between systems.

“We are building this in a way that it can evolve and grow towards user needs,” Stäuble adds, noting that providers can suggest additional features and provide inputs to update the framework.

Who is it for?

The primary audience includes operators subject to regulation, traders asked to onboard to digital systems, certification schemes considering partnerships, and authorities preparing for enforcement.

Costs remain a factor in the broader ecosystem. Public datasets, such as those released by EU institutions, can support due diligence in some cases. But more advanced analysis – including up-to-date satellite imagery – carries a price.

“For example high-resolution, time and location specific satellite data or expert lead analysis of supply chain data and evidence comes with a cost,” Stäuble says. “That’s why these tools are not for free. But it facilitates a more precise and more reliable deforestation risk analysis.”

He is careful, however, not to position the Navigator as a gatekeeper.

“We don’t want to overstate or recommend something that we’re not sure is a clear recommendation.”

Instead, the platform offers structured transparency in a fast-moving field – an attempt, as Stäuble puts it, to ensure that growing expectations around traceability are matched by clearer information about the tools designed to deliver it.

A Beta version of the Traceability Tools Navigator will be soft launched in March. PbN and WWF urge tool providers to propose relevant tools for inclusion on the curated website.

This project is made possible thanks to a grant from the ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and UK International Development from the UK government. Consultation on criteria, platform design is undergoing, and the first testing platform is expected to be ready in Q1 2026. 

Featured photo courtesy of Tobias Stäuble / Preferred by Nature