2Sustain

The World Economic Forum’s Logistics & Transport Industry Group, supported by Accenture, has taken a significant environmental step by agreeing to standard guidelines for calculating consignment-level carbon emissions from logistics and shipping operations.

These new guidelines for consignment-level emissions reporting will enable logistics and transport companies to:

• Assess the carbon intensity of their operations

• Define carbon reduction strategies leading to energy efficiency gains and cost reductions

• Provide their customers with information on the carbon associated with shipping their products

• Enable product lifecycle emissions assessments and product carbon labeling

And, ultimately, that will drive carbon efficiency in the freight and logistics sector –which in turn, will have a significant impact on global supply chains.

According to Jonathan Wright, senior executive in Accenture’s Supply Chain Management practice, the new carbon measurement and reporting approach will enable the logistics industry to better meet customer demands. (more…)

Does your company engage employees in sustainability initiatives as part of its comprehensive CSR program?

Many companies do. And yet, across the broader business community, not much is known about how these initiatives are administered and exactly how popular they have become.

Earlier this month, Brighter Planet released results of a new study that offers valuable insights about these issues. The 38-page report, Employee Engagement Survey: An Analysis of the Extent and Nature of Employee Sustainability Programs, attachments compiles the results of  1055 individual responses to a survey conducted in November 2009. This sample reflects a diverse set of respondents in terms of job role, employer size, industry sector, and geography (responses represented 44 states and the District of Columbia).

Here are a few key findings: (more…)

For the past six years, the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) has sponsored a “Crossroads Conference,” designed to make the connection between supply chain management and corporate strategy.

This year, the conference is scheduled for March 25, in Cambridge, MA, and the theme –Building Supply Chains that Deliver Sustainability –is particularly relevant in today’s business environment.  Organizers say Crossroads Conference 2010 will address the crucial link between environmental track record and commercial success, with a focus on delivering sustainable business practices through optimized, environmentally sound supply chain management.

The conference will also include the launch of the Global LEAP—Leaders in Environmental Assessment and Performance— research consortium. (more…)

Back in August, in my post “Do You Know Your Forest Footprint?,” I mentioned that the Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) Project planned to release an annual report of “best-in-class” corporations in early 2010.

Well, those results are in, and they show –for the first time ever –how 35 different companies are tackling the issue of sustainable sourcing of Forest Risk Commodities (FRCs), such as palm oil, soy, timber, beef, leather and biofuels. (Read the full 64-page report here.)

The FFD Project sent its disclosure request was sent to 217 high profile international companies, selected by Fortune 500 status and exposure to FRCs. The questionnaire asked for information in 11 key sections, including Risk Assessment, Sustainable Supply Chain Development and Support and Governance Process. All told, 35 companies –including global leaders such as British Airways, BMW, Travis Perkins, L’Oréal, Weyerhaeuser, Kingfisher, Adidas, Nike, Mondi and Unilever –disclosed in response to this first approach. (more…)

Water scarcity risks are growing in many parts of the world, and yet a new study, by the Ceres investor coalition, the financial services firm UBS and financial data provider Bloomberg, found that most companies in water-intensive industries have weak management and disclosure of water-related risks and opportunities.

The study, “Murky Waters? Corporate Reporting on Water Risk,” used a scoring scale of 0 to 100 to rank 100 publicly-traded companies in eight key sectors exposed to water-related risks.

Eighty of the 100 companies scored fewer than 30 points. The three highest scoring companies — UK beverage company Diageo (43 points), Swiss mining company Xstrata (42 points) and U.S. electric power company Pinnacle West (owner of Arizona Public Services) (38 points) –couldn’t even reach the 50-point threshold.

And, none of the 100 companies are providing comprehensive water data on their supply chains –an especially glaring omission given that the vast majority of many corporations’ water footprint is in the supply chain. (more…)