CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Today’s instant communication means brands must respond to calls for transparency or risk widespread exposure to reputational damage. Two recent investigations of major brands reveal the power of public calls for accountability in motivating brand behavior changes.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Modern Slavery Act, passed into UK law in March, is the first of its kind in Europe, and one of the first in the world, to address slavery and human trafficking in the 21st century. It includes a Transparency in Supply Chains Clause, which as of October will require companies with a turnover of more than £36 million to publish an annual slavery and human trafficking statement. This turnover threshold will affect over 12,000 companies and their UK and international supply chains.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
A new report released today from Rainforest Action Network (RAN) documents decades of human rights abuses suffered by communities at the frontlines of plantation expansion for tree-based fabric production. Lessons from the Incense Forest implicates popular American brands, which RAN has dubbed the ‘Fashion Fifteen’, as being at risk for deforestation and human rights violations in their supply chains. Prominent brands include fashion giant Ralph Lauren, whose Annual General Meeting (AGM) is to take place in New York City this Thursday, August 6th.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a coalition of 300 investors with assets under management of over $100 billion, along with Calvert Investments and Christian Brothers Investment Services, commend Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) for this week’s introduction of The Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This week, a comprehensive special report in The New York Times detailed the very bottom of a systemic epidemic of human rights violations in global supply chains.There are 35.8 million people enslaved worldwide in 2015. One in five is a child. Half are women and girls, according to WalkFree.org.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today, the US Department of State released its 2015 Global Trafficking in Persons Report, which places countries onto one of three tiers based on the extent of their efforts to comply with “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” This year’s report maintained Thailand’s Tier 3 designation, its lowest ranking.Greenpeace, which earlier this month released the ninth edition of its Carting Away the Oceans (CATO) report ranking 25 leading supermarkets on the sustainability of their seafood procurement, had this to say:
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Tradeshift, the fastest-growing supplier collaboration platform, today announced its partnership with EcoVadis, creators of the first collaborative platform providing Supplier Sustainability Ratings for global supply chains. The partnership will give Tradeshift customers access to EcoVadis’ trusted supplier sustainability ratings to solve their supply chain CSR performance monitoring challenges and advance their Sustainable Procurement programs.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
The National Materials Marketplace, a new joint pilot project led by the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF), US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), brings together more than 20 major companies with operations in the United States, helping them identify ways to reuse or exchange undervalued materials via an online database, and establish new circular supply chains.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Arizona State University (ASU) athletics and ESPN recently continued bold efforts to reduce waste and carbon emissions at their high-profile sporting events.ASU’s Sun Devil Athletics was recognized for its participation in the 2014 Game Day Zero Waste Challenge as part of the Pac-12 Conference. The team scored first in the Challenge’s recycling and organics-reduction categories, recycling an average of 1 pound of waste per person. It also placed second in the conference diversion rate category and third in GHG reduction.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Growing public health and consumer safety concerns about the overuse of antibiotics in food has sparked a wave of resistance, with both Subway and Kroger facing pressure this week to curb their reliance on antibiotics — which the companies say they use to promote growth and produce their meat efficiently.Opposition to the excessive antibiotics use has arisen from the spread of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’ bacteria, which render infections that are normally treatable with antibiotics more severe and even deadly. Food contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria is one way in which ‘superbugs’ can be transmitted from farms to people.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
For more than three years, BASF, Cargill and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have worked together to promote sustainable coconut oil and improve the living conditions of coconut farmers in the Philippines. This week they’ve announced the establishment of the world’s first certified production of copra, the dried coconut flesh needed to process coconut oil. The project on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao is partly financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under the develoPPP.de programme.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) released a new progress report, titled Testing Commitments to Cut Conflict Palm Oil, ranking the relative strength of palm oil commitments made since the launch of its Snack Food 20 campaign two years ago. The 2015 progress report shines a spotlight on the laggards in the Snack Food 20 and outlines the actions that these companies — as well as the frontrunners who are pushing ahead on their commitments — can and must take to rapidly cut Conflict Palm Oil from our food system.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This afternoon panel on Wednesday, day three of SB '15 San Diego, offered a unique opportunity to hear from a diverse group of companies, both large and small, national and global, spanning several industries, and with different degrees of complexity in their supply chains. With the help of moderator Bonnie Nixon, former supply chain sustainability for companies such as HP and Mattel, the group offered insights into several potential trends:
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL), one of the world’s largest producers of pulp and paper, has today announced an end to deforestation as part of a new Sustainable Forest Management Plan.Deforestation for pulp and paper, and palm oil, is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia. If properly implemented, APRIL’s pledge will prove to be another major step by business towards protecting Indonesia’s rainforests and peatlands.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
How do we make recycling work and be cost-effective? Bridget Croke, Director of Partnerships and Communications at the Closed Loop Fund (CLF), posed this question to a panel of three of CLF’s leading investors: Tim Carey, Senior Director of Sustainability & Recycling at PepsiCo; Monique Oxender, Chief Sustainability Officer at Keurig Green Mountain; and Ashley C. Hall, Senior Manager of Product Sustainability at Walmart.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
On Monday, Bangladeshi police charged 41 people, including the owner of the Rana Plaza complex, with murder over the 2013 factory collapse that killed more than 1,100 people.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
There have been many high-profile commitments by corporations to end deforestation in their supply chains and to transition to sources that preserve these valuable forest resources. And while most will agree that deforestation remains one of the greatest contributors to global climate change, not all are in agreement on how exactly businesses will make this transition in a way that continues to meet the demands of their customers.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Companies face a harder time today satisfying their customers. They expect their purchases to deliver as promised and, increasingly, they want to ensure the manufacturing process didn’t cause social or environmental damage along the value chain.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This week has seen another concerted push by concerned stakeholders to clean up major brands’ supply chains.On Tuesday, for the second time in a month, hundreds of activists once again took part in a Week of Action in grocery stores and public spaces across the United States, rebranding grocery store shelves and engaging shoppers to warn them that products from PepsiCo’s Quaker brand may contain Conflict Palm Oil.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Today, the adidas Group announced a partnership with Parley for the Oceans, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the beauty and fragility of the oceans and to collaborating on projects that can end their destruction. Together, the organizations will implement a long-term program that builds on three pillars: communication and education; research and innovation; and direct actions against ocean plastic pollution.