Engage in efforts to shape value chain-related norms and standards.
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Embedding sustainability expectations into industry norms and standards can lead to a broader and more sustained impact than addressing one issue, decision maker, or supplier at a time. To collaborate with peers, you will need to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability and ability to contribute. This will depend on your organisation’s track record on sustainability and potential to influence.
You can positively influence procurement and supply chain norms by embracing and promoting sustainability practices within your industry. Participate in key forums like professional associations, industry initiatives, or conferences to help shape event agendas and disseminate sustainability concepts through panels, case studies, workshops, guidance, blogs, and articles.
Help formalise sustainability expectations by supporting the development of industry standards. A rigorous standard development process should be transparent and involve all stakeholders. Transparency is essential because it inspires trust and facilitates action among various players. This entails consistently updating and sharing standard-related information. The standard itself should have verifiable requirements and full coverage of the value chain.¹ It is also important to have a plan for future refinement. For instance, conducting regular reviews can bolster credibility and incite further action.²
If your organisation is smaller or lacks a reputation for sustainability, it may be more difficult to get involved in standard setting. You will need to build relationships with others, for instance, by participating in industry initiatives and events.³
EXAMPLE: Apparel brands commit to a standard system for assessing social impact.
Apparel brands are replacing their proprietary auditing tools with the Higg Facility Social & Labour Module standard scoring system. The tool removes the need for individual audits, reducing supplier fatigue, freeing up time and resources for suppliers, and enabling data comparability.⁴
EXAMPLE: Palm oil value chain participants join forces to develop a sustainable palm oil standard
Organisations across the palm oil value chain, from processors to financiers, have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). They aim to reduce the environmental and social impacts of the palm oil industry by implementing a global sustainability certification standard.⁵
EXAMPLE: Fashion brands partner up to tackle forced labour
Recognising the systemic nature of forced labour among foreign migrant workers involved in their Asian supply chains, seven apparel and footwear companies came together to help address the issue. With support from the NGO Verite, they have developed a standardised reporting and assessment process. It facilitates supplier reporting on worker recruitment fees which are often responsible for saddling migrant workers with unpayable debt.⁶
EXAMPLE: GSK’s sustainable sourcing standards
Within its sustainable sourcing program, the pharmaceutical company GSK worked with internal and external experts to develop five sustainable sourcing standards for materials that currently lack robust certification schemes. The standards cover key impact categories and contain a clear list of requirements to clarify a route to achieving sustainable sourcing.⁷
You can improve access to value chain-related sustainability data by seeking opportunities to collaborate with peers or other value chain actors. Collaborating to collect, share, and standardise key value chain data helps to improve sustainability disclosures and reduce audit fatigue for your value chain partners.
EXAMPLE: DRIVE shared materials risk inventory
DRIVE, a partnership between major automakers, produced a shared materials risk inventory to address the common sustainability sourcing challenges they face.⁸
¹ Interview Notes
² https://goodweave.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/210617-EffectiveStandardSetting-GoodWeave-KFC.pdf
³ https://www.bsr.org/en/blog/supply-chain-collaboration
⁴ https://apparelcoalition.org/press-releases/higg-fslm-scoring-launch/
⁷ https://spp.earth/spp-guide/
⁸ https://drivesustainability.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Material-Change_VF.pdf
This guide by Goodweave details how to set practical standards focusing on child labour, but the principles it covers apply to sustainability standards broadly. The principles are: 1) Set rigorous standards with multi-stakeholder input; 2) Ensure comprehensive coverage of the supply chain; 3) Include prescriptive and preventative requirements; 4) Require actionable remediation; and 5) Encourage improvement over time.
This Responsible Business Alliance Code of Conduct provides a set of social, environmental, and ethical industry standards that align with international norms for human rights and labour standards.
The International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry outlines a legally binding agreement between textile retailers/brands and global trade unions to ensure workplace safety. Key principles include accountability, transparency, independence, worker participation, and inclusive governance.
ICMM's Mining Principles provide a guide to good environmental, social, and governance practices for companies. It includes a set of 39 performance expectations and 9 position statements for the mining and metals industry.
This paper by the OECD explores the links between responsible business conduct and global value chains, emphasizing the relationship between business practices and environmental and social impacts. It offers guiding actions to build resilience in global supply chains.
The first international standard for sustainable procurement created by the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
Explore Market: It can help inform your pre-planning process by offering guidance on integrating sustainability criteria into procurement processes, engaging with suppliers, and assessing sustainability risks.
Policies and Processes: The standard can be used to help develop and implement sustainable purchasing policies and processes.
Review: The measuring and improving performance section provides techniques to implement and continually improve sustainable procurement.
Buyers of recycled plastic generally do not understand the origin of the material, or the conditions under which it is collected and processed. This framework developed by the Circulate Initiative – with contributions from more than 40 organisations representing waste pickers, companies, and civil society – can help you extend your supply chain due diligence to the source of recycled plastic. The framework has two parts: part one introduces harmonised themes, definitions, and indicators, and part two explains how to implement the framework. This framework will be most useful to supply chain and sustainability practitioners seeking to advance inclusive and equitable sourcing practices for recycled plastics.
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