How organizations are working to address the myriad social, environmental and operational issues that can arise in complex supply chains
It has the potential to benefit 173 million workers in global supply chains and provide livelihood benefits or savings of US $30 billion annually, according to Vodafone and Accenture.What is the ‘it’? It’s a series of six disruptive opportunities for mobile to enhance the lives of workers in global supply chains. Details are laid out in their report, Connected Worker: How mobile technology can improve working life in emerging economies, with corresponding reach, benefits and business case for each of the six: Read More...
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) reports that it has validated conflict-free smelters or refiners of all four conflict minerals for the first time in the initiative’s five-year history, and is calling on more smelters and refiners to join the effort to become conflict-free by undergoing CFSI’s conflict minerals audit. Read More...
This post first appeared on CSRwire's TalkBack blog on December 17, 2013.The ubiquity of the apparel industry is staggering. Everyone wears clothes. The manufacturing of apparel triggers national development and industrialization, jobs and forms of commerce for the sellers of it, and cover and satisfaction for consumers. At three trillion and counting, the global garment and textile industry is responsible for a great deal of progress throughout the world. Read More...
… Or, as Greenpeace refers to its apparent victory: “How to Detox a fashion brand in 14 days, 6 cities and 10,000 tweets.”British luxury fashion brand Burberry has responded to recent allegations by Greenpeace that some of its clothing contains hazardous chemicals by committing to remove all such substances from its operations by 2020. Read More...
CDP, with the help of FirstCarbon Solutions (FCS), a pioneer in environmental and sustainability business solutions, has announced the debut publication of the Supplier Climate Performance Leadership Index (SCPLI), a new evaluation and benchmarking tool for CDP supply chain members and suppliers. Read More...
On Thursday at the US Conference of Mayors Meeting in Washington, D.C., Walmart US President and CEO Bill Simon announced a new fund for innovation in US manufacturing.Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will fund the five-year program and launch it in March in collaboration with the US Conference of Mayors. The fund will provide grants to innovators in the manufacturing sector and seeks to create new processes, ideas and jobs that support the country’s growing manufacturing footprint. Read More...
Organic dairy producer Stonyfield Farm, Inc. announced this week that it will utilize a new tool to manage its supply chain: SupplyShift™ — a new, cloud-based, supply chain management platform focused on sustainability, but flexible enough to assess any procurement need or supply chain risks.“When it comes to managing environmental and social impact across any business, supply chains are everything,” cited Wood Turner, Stonyfield’s VP of Sustainability Innovation. “The challenge comes in getting diverse suppliers aligned around shared values and leadership aspirations. At Stonyfield, we have high hopes that SupplyShift will be the key to a new phase of innovation for us." Read More...
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI), a leading industry initiative on conflict minerals, is calling on more companies to join over 120 companies from seven different industries to already become conflict-free.The CFSI provides vital sourcing information that enables companies to make informed choices about minerals they use in their products — including helping companies meet their upcoming reporting deadline related to U.S. conflict minerals regulations. Read More...
On Wednesday, The North Face announced the completion of its Responsible Down Standard (RDS), a tool that will provide a global standard through which the outdoor-gear retailer says any organization can evaluate and certify its full down supply chain.The RDS was developed in partnership with Control Union Certifications, an accredited third-party certification body, and Textile Exchange, a global nonprofit dedicated to sustainability in the textile industry. The RDS will allow The North Face to audit and ensure the ethical treatment of all animals in its down supply chain and validate all claims through an established chain of custody process. Read More...
To ensure that none of its products are linked to deforestation, L’Oréal has been implementing action plans with regards to the sustainable sourcing of palm oil, soya oil and wood fiber-based products since 2007. This week, as part of its ambitious "Sharing Beauty with All" sustainability commitment, the cosmetics giant has committed to sourcing 100 percent renewable raw materials from sustainable sources by 2020 and confirms its ambition to achieve zero deforestation through the sourcing of three key ingredients: Wood fiber-based products, palm oil and soya oil.Wood fiber and paper Read More...
APRIL, the second largest pulp and paper company in Indonesia, has today been threatened with expulsion from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a coalition of some 200 international companies committed to sustainability, unless it can demonstrate that it has ended its role in deforestation, according to Greenpeace. Read More...
What started as a conversation amongst three friends in 2012 soon evolved into a new online retail concept founded on a shared passion to make a difference.Nomadista, a term coined by co-founders Irina Bezsonoff, Marisol Gomez and Luisa Echeverry meaning an open-minded, stylish and socially-conscious wanderer, launched in September with a mission to provide shoppers with beautifully designed products that are responsibly sourced and made, while helping to improve conditions and create opportunities for underserved children in Colombia. Read More...
Sustainable supply-chain management company EcoVadis and BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) have announced a partnership aimed at standardizing sustainability reporting requests for the sea freight supply chain.Under this partnership EcoVadis will align its environmental assessment questionnaires for sea carriers with the Clean Cargo Environmental Performance Survey framework. Clean Cargo members also will have the opportunity to leverage the EcoVadis online collaboration platform to access sustainability scorecards on their partners’ performance. Read More...
McDonald’s announced this week that, by 2016, it will begin sourcing “verified sustainable beef.” The pledge is an effort to reduce the environmental impact of the fast-food chain’s meat production, as well as to be kinder to the animals on which its livelihood rests. Though there is, of course, plenty of debate over just what “sustainable beef” is, or whether it is achievable.In its pledge, McDonald’s vows, rather vaguely, “to improve environmental practices in the way beef is produced, support positive workplaces in the beef industry, and drive continuous improvement in animal health and welfare.” Read More...
In his pre-show keynote at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas yesterday, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich outlined a range of the company’s new products, initiatives and strategic relationships aimed at accelerating innovation across a range of mobile and wearable devices, and challenged the entire electronics industry to join Intel in becoming “conflict-free.” Read More...
A Minnesota watershed project is using an ecocommerce framework, a fundamentally different approach to bringing shared value to natural resource management. Read More...
It was every retailer’s worst nightmare: Days after the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in one of the worst industrial disasters in recorded history, activists began plastering the Internet with pictures of clothing labels uncovered amongst the rubble of concrete and human remains. Amongst these, some of the world’s most recognized brands, including Mango, H&M and Walmart. Read More...
Evolving government policies, technical possibilities, market conditions and stakeholder relationships are all constantly influencing – directly or indirectly – buyers and sellers alike. This channel zooms in on sustainable purchasing and procurement news for anyone looking to stay up-to-date with movers and shakers in the space. Read More...
2013 was a banner year for companies using their muscle to drive transformative change, both internally and globally. Without further ado, here is just a taste of some of the progress we found most inspiring. Read More...
This is the fourth in a series of excerpts from Engaging Outraged Stakeholders: A How-To Guide for Uniting the Left, Right, Capitalists and Activists (Affinity Press, 2013), the new book from Future 500. Earlier this month, we posted the beginning of Chapter Two: The Power of Engagement, and learned six reasons to engage your activist stakeholders. Read More...