|
The Ethical and Sustainable Supply Chain - Some Thoughts on This For You From Forbes “Ethical sourcing” – we see that a lot of companies are systematically addressing issues in their sourcing and supply chain management to better understand and address (and better manage!) the various issues that their investors, customers, employees, business partners, and other stakeholders care about. What is “ethical” behavior in the layers upon layers of suppliers in the usual globalized sourcing effort? As we sometimes hear in the poetic notion, the butterfly wings’ flapping and fluttering in Brazil can have effects all the way north as expressed through the hurricane winds hitting Mexico and in the tornado whirlings on the American Gulf coast. This “butterfly effect” (part of the chaos theory portfolio) has counterparts in the supply chains of companies sourcing from near and far lands. An example shared: Poor working conditions in the Bangladesh factories have been brought to consumer attention by United Kingdom news reports; the products (like T-shirts) end up on retailer shelves with “Spice Girl” branding. Irony: the shirts were part of the Comic Relief Event campaign to raise money for “gender justice" – and the Bangladesh female workers made 30 cents an hour under hostile working conditions (details are in our Top Story). Writing for Forbes (brands), contributor Richard Howell’s shares his thoughts in our Top Story. “Social, economic and environmental sustainability should be at the heart of every supply chain…” he writes. So – what is ethical? Among other things, fair wages, better working conditions and gender equality in the global supply chain that is sustainable as well. This week’s Forbes commentary is by contributor Richard Howells, a 25-year veteran of supply chain management and manufacturing who describes himself as “responsible for driving market direction and positioning of SAP’s Supply Chain Management and IOT solutions.” He’s worked on systems for such brand-facing companies as Nestle, Gillette, and others. This Week's Top Story Tell Me What You Want, What You Really, Really Want: A Sustainable Supply Chain
SPECIAL FEATURE In this series we share perspectives with you on the alignments and differences of the GRI and SASB Standards when it comes to reporting on industry specific topics and disclosures. Today, we are seeing many more companies that use the Global Reporting Initiative Standards (GRI) for their corporate sustainability / responsibility / citizenship reporting also referencing aspects of the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards (recently codified for many industries by SASB). G&A Institute’s Sustainability Report Analyst Interns analyze thousands of sustainability reports as part of our responsibilities as the GRI's Data Partner for the United States, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. As they analyze these corporate reports, they have been expressing their thoughts on the alignments and differences that they see in the two standards especially when it comes to sector specific disclosures, and in the way that corporate reporters are responding to the availability of both standards for their materiality analysis, strategy setting, actions and then their reporting. We asked them to share their perspectives as they examined a select number of industry categories SASB disclosure guidance and compared it to the GRI Standards Disclosures (And where available GRI sector guidance / supplements). We have four perspectives to share with you this issue – we think they will be helpful for those professionals preparing corporate sustainability reports in select industries.
Sustainability: Continuing Forward Momentum! Support for Sustainable Investment Decisions Sustainable Investing Will Be Focus Of 2019 8 top predictions for sustainable cosmetics in 2019 3 Ways Marketers Can Boost Profits With Sustainable Design ‘Sustainability is not a cost item it’s a money generator’ Paris Outlines Plans To Become The Sustainable Capital Of Fashion By 2024
Extreme cold gripping Midwest does not debunk global warming, experts say Bad start continues for China economy as private data shows manufacturing activity weakest since 2016 America Is Producing the Wrong Kind of Oil
Land O'Lakes Launches Software Platform To Help Farmers Boost Sustainability PG&E files for bankruptcy after California wildfires Trouble In Paradise For U.S. Frackers The Wisconsin Foxconn factory won't be a manufacturing plant after all Facebook Has Just Been Caught Spying On Users' Private Messages And Data -- Again General Electric: Why You Should Ignore The Noise GM halts operations at 11 Michigan plants after utility’s urgent appeal Tips included: Hershey says it’s fixed the problem of its Kisses’ missing peaks Tesla is betting big on China, and here’s what Elon Musk had to say about it News & Opinion: Asset Managers, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds Kansas Senate panel votes to pay $115 million debt owed to state pension system Sovereign wealth funds continue to grow in power and influence Here is what the stock market’s monster January rally means for February Fed holds rates, updates balance sheet policy after 'extensive deliberations' - text/video Commentary of Interest... A Pension Fund Should Focus On Financial Returns, Not Social Policy Why is France protesting? | CNBC Explains | New Governance & Accountability
________________________________________
G&A Institute Sustainability Update™ ________________________________________
________________________________________ _________________________________________ Louis Coppola from G&A Institute Goes In Depth on How to Improve ESG Performance
_________________________________________
_________________________________________ FLASH REPORT: 85% of S&P 500 Index® Companies Publish Sustainability Reports in 2017
________________________________________ GRI'S USA, UK & IRELAND
G&A Institute is the Data Partner for the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) in the USA, UK and Republic of Ireland. We identify, receive, collect, analyze, database, and communicate about every report issued in any of the 3 countries. Over the past 6+ years, G&A analyzed 6,000-plus sustainability reports in this pro bono role and databased 100+ important data points for each report. Find out more @ G&A's What's A Data Partner _________________________________________
Navigating the way to sustainability... | |||||||||||||||
The Sustainability Highlights eNewsletter is prepared by Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. based on continuous monitoring of trends and developments in Sustainability and ESG. Governance & Accountability Instiute is the "Sustainability Headquarters™" for clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors. Based in New York, G&A is a for-profit consulting organization providing a range of value-added strategies, services and resources related to ESG & sustainability to clients in the corporate and capital markets communities.For G&A's full range of services, click on each of the links below: For more information, contact Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. (New York, New York) | ||||||||||||||||
Critical ESG Issues Management
