The news in this edition of CCB points to the growing number of companies and industries working towards improving the sustainability of supply chains. A great development. As the Olympics story suggests, campaigners remain keen to push the agenda forward, adding to the pressure on companies and putting that same pressure on the events organisers. In other examples, collaboration is becoming more commonplace, as companies attempt to work with suppliers rather than dictate to them. For example, P&G asking its suppliers to be innovative with ideas to improve their sustainability credentials while the ICT industry has begun a collaborative approach to auditing their common suppliers, hopefully removing the need for excessive repetitive audits. This is all great news for championing a life-cycle approach to sustainability. But is the result causing companies to take their eye off the ball with regard to in-house issues?
We read here that France Telecom is joining forces with its competitors to define a coordinated audit process of its suppliers in Asia. Good news of course….but only last week The Independent newspaper reported that 27 France Telecom employees committed suicide last year allegedly over working conditions. Avoiding this type of human tragedy must be the core responsibility of any employer. In fact many would argue that this should take precedence over demanding certain standards from suppliers. We must of course be supportive of promoting responsible business practices, and ensure that we include suppliers in that process, but let’s lead by example.
Katie is a consultant at Corporate Citizenship. Email her at Katie.dodds@corporate-citizenship.com to discuss environment, reporting, assurance and supply chains.
Plea on the IOC to make London 2012 ‘sweat-free’
On April 5, campaigners from Playfair 2012 – a coalition of unions and campaigning groups – lobbied members of the International Olympic Committee who were in London for a two-day board meeting on the London Games. Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber met with IOC representatives and urged them to ensure that all workplaces in the many Olympic and sportswear supply chains are free from poverty wages, insecure employment and excessive hours, and that the workers are allowed to join unions. After the meeting, he handed over letters from trade unionists around the globe calling for fair treatment for workers producing Olympic merchandise. Playfair 2012 wants to ensure that companies in the Olympics sportswear and merchandise supply chains are required to; include the principle of respect for workers’ rights in the Olympic Charter and IOC code of ethics, and; make compliance with international labour standards a contractual condition in all licensing, sponsorship and marketing agreements.
On April 5, Unilever Canada announced that it will become the single largest commercial purchaser of renewable energy in Canada, purchasing 59,000 MWh of electricity – enough energy to power more than 6,000 homes – through Bullfrog Power, Canada’s ‘100% green’ energy provider. The decision is part of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, in which Unilever will grow its business in a way which helps improve people’s health and well-being, reduces environmental impact and enhances livelihoods. The deal will provide all of Unilever’s manufacturing facilities and offices in Ontario – accounting for 90% of its Canadian operations – with locally sourced renewable power. It will reduce the company’s carbon dioxide emissions footprint by approximately 7,544 tonnes annually. In Ontario, Bullfrog’s electricity comes only from local wind and hydro facilities that have been certified as low impact by Environment Canada under its EcoLogoM programme.
Three telecom operators work together on Asian suppliers
Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and Telecom Italia have agreed to assess and improve the social, ethical and environmental conditions along the supply chain of 40 key suppliers in Asia. Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the three operators have defined a co-ordinated audit process based on a common assessment methodology to verify and improve conditions at manufacturing centres. Other telecom operators are also welcome to be part of this Joint Audit Cooperation by signing the MoU. The audits are implemented by recognised international CSR audit companies that will release official and recognized audit reports. These will then be followed up by each of the operators. “This MoU will seek to enable the achievement of CSR goals on an international level and will allow the three operators to optimize their CSR assessment and follow up process through the application of common best practice. It will also enable operators and suppliers to save precious time and effort by joining forces”, explains Marc Fossier, France Telecom Social Responsibility Executive Director.
Procter & Gamble recently shared in a public webcast the learning from the Year 1 results of its Environmental Sustainability Supplier Scorecard. Deployed about a year ago to nearly 400 strategic suppliers, the P&G Supplier Scorecard was designed to measure and improve the environmental performance of key suppliers with three goals: 1) enhancing supply chain collaboration; 2) improving key environmental indicators; and 3) encouraging the sharing of ideas and capabilities to deliver more sustainable products and services to consumers. One unique feature of the scorecard is that it encourages P&G’s partners to share innovation ideas that can improve the sustainability footprint of the business. Of the scorecards received by P&G, about 40% offered at least one innovation idea. Many of these have moved forward to become actual projects, including a chemical supplier who has begun work with P&G on renewable energy, renewable materials development, and ways to reduce emissions.
Avon is the latest major beauty company to commit to using 100% sustainable palm oil, marking a major step forwards for the cosmetics industry that has been accused of indirectly driving deforestation. The US firm, made famous for its door-to-door sales representatives, announced a commitment in April that it will buy Green Palm certificates for all of its global palm oil use. The company did not specify how much it would need to invest in the certificates, but insisted that it is not a significant user of palm oil. As part of its efforts to boost the fledgling sustainable palm oil sector, Avon has also joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which endorses the Green Palm certification scheme. They join current members and redeemed GreenPalm certificate holders Oriflame, Johnson & Johnson and Liz Earle from the cosmetic and personal care industry.
GeSI and EICC announce update to conflict-free smelter programme in DRC
The Global e-Sustainability Initiative and the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition announced on April 22 an update to the Conflict-Free Smelter (CFS) protocol relating to smelter due diligence requirements. The CFS is a voluntary programme that aims to enable responsible mineral sourcing through evaluating the source and conflict-free status of minerals that are processed by smelters. According to the updated protocol, to be eligible for the CFS programme, smelters who source minerals from the Democratic Rrepublic of Congo and adjoining countries must; implement the OECD Guidance for these minerals; demonstrate conformance to the OECD Guidance and; assure that smelters and their suppliers provide 100% supporting documentation regarding the mine of origin and subsequent trading partners to the smelter through the establishment of a chain of custody and/or traceability system. According to Greenbiz, the implementation of the rules means that certain areas of the Democratic Rrepublic of Congo are off-limits to parts of Apple, Intel and other IT firms’ supply chains.
Contact: Global e-Sustainability Initiative www.gesi.org
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