Diageo boosts emerging markets with supply chain restructure
Diageo is restructuring its global supply chain and procurement function as emerging markets account for a bigger percentage of its business. By February 2016, the manufacturer of brands including Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka aims to source 50 percent of its business from emerging markets. This figure currently stands at 42 percent. The move will reduce current regional operations and make annual savings of £60m, while enabling the company to respond to the needs of its 21 key markets. Savings from reducing regional supply organisations will be around £60m per year and are expected to be achieved in three years. (Supply Management)
Climate Change
Financing investments to mitigate climate change in India
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Exim Bank signed a EUR 150m loan for financing investments that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change. The EIB loan will make long term financing available for investments that contribute to climate change mitigation through projects in renewable energy and energy efficiency in India implemented by public and private sector companies. The operation will contribute to the EU-India strategic partnership, which foresees, amongst other things, improved energy sustainability and combating climate change. (European Investment Bank)
Human Rights
Queen signs gay rights charter
The Queen is to sign a new charter promoting gay rights and gender equality in every Commonwealth nation, later today. The document declares: "We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds." However, it is the gay rights aspect that campaigners cite as a key change to Commonwealth policy: more than 80 per cent of Commonwealth countries still operates under antiquated anti-gay legislation remaining from the days of the Empire, with 41 former British colonies including Jamaica, Singapore and Malaysia still criminalising homosexuality. (Independent, BBC)
Corporate Reputation
Mitsubishi Corporation drops out of FTSE4Good Index
Mitsubishi Corporation is among four companies to drop out of the latest edition of the ‘FTSE4Good Index’, after failing to meet the climate change criteria specified by the ethical ratings series. David Harris, director of FTSE Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), declined to specify exactly why Mitsubishi Corporation was deleted from the index. However, he noted the company's sheer size and diverse structure exposed it to a range of different ESG risks, including carbon intensive sectors, such as mining and oil and gas, so it needed to meet detailed inclusion criteria. (Business Green)
Ford's zero waste drive generates colossal cost savings
Ford Motors is realising exceptional cost benefits through its waste reduction agenda, saving $225m (£149m) through the recycling of 568,000 tonnes of scrap metal in the US and Canada alone. The company launched a five-year plan in 2011 to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill between 2011 and 2016 to 40 percent per vehicle. Ford says it is building on the success it saw between 2007 and 2011, when the amount of waste sent to landfill per vehicle was reduced by 40 percent. Reductions were accomplished through the launch of new initiatives and programs, such as paint waste recycling at facilities in Australia, Thailand, India and Spain. (Edie)
Social Investment
Hilton Worldwide recognises youth unemployment
Hilton Worldwide has commissioned a white paper titled, Creating Opportunities for Youth in Hospitality, from the International Youth Foundation (IYF), after recognising that youth unemployment has risen significantly since the global financial crisis. The paper actively highlights solutions to youth joblessness that the global hospitality sector is uniquely positioned to provide. The Hilton Worldwide has also launched ‘Bright Blue Futures’, a global commitment to youth development around the world led by its flagship Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand. Hilton Worldwide is also supporting IYF in developing a set of global reporting tools, including a ‘Global Youth Wellbeing Index and Hospitality Industry Impact Framework’, that directly address the paper's call for accountability and instruments to assess the condition of youth over time. (Just Means)
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