2Sustain

Back in March, I wrote about McDonald’s new Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC). Now, McDonald’s has extended this commitment even more by joining the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organization that promotes the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders.

As a result of its membership in the RSPO, McDonald’s says that by the end of this year, it will source palm oil only from RSPO member companies. By 2015, only RSPO-certified palm oil will be used in McDonald’s restaurants, pre-cooked chicken and potato products.

This new focus on palm oil comes after an analysis conducted as part of McDonald’s SLMC.  The company, in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), identified which of its raw materials have the most potential sustainability impacts. The list includes beef, poultry, coffee, fiber for packaging and palm oil –and so McDonald’s is going to center its attention on those areas. (more…)

The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), part of the United Nation’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), recently adopted mandatory measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping. Approved last month at IMO Headquarters in London, these are the first-ever mandatory global greenhouse emissions plan for any international industry sector.

The new regulations apply to all ships of 400 gross tonnage and above and are expected to enter into force on January 1, 2013.

The standard for new ships, the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), is a non-prescriptive performance-based mechanism that leaves the choice of energy efficient technologies on newly-built ships up to the shipbuilder. As long as ships achieve the required energy-efficient metrics, ship designers and builders are at liberty to choose the most cost-effective methods needed to comply with these new regulations.

An additional standard, the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP), applies to ships currently in operation. The SEEMP provides a mechanism for operators to improve the energy efficiency of ships (using slow steaming, e.g.).

As you might expect, not everyone is satisfied with the IMO’s new standards. Critics note that developing countries have a six-year waiver, and the rules only apply to new ships replacing old ones. (more…)

Every year since 1999, the US State Department has recognized US businesses that demonstrate good corporate citizenship abroad. As good global citizens, these corporations have a  positive impact  on American foreign relations.

This year, the annual Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) was given to Mars, Incorporated for its work in cocoa sustainability and its various efforts to improve economic development in the cocoa-growing region of the Republic of Ghana.

Mars was chosen from a record number of 78 nominations submitted by American ambassadors around the world, and according to Mars, the ACE award reflects the company’s evolving commitment to cocoa sustainability.  To illustrate this commitment, Mars points out that it has pledged to use 100 percent certified sustainable cocoa in all of its products worldwide by 2020. In addition, Mars, IBM and the US Department of Agriculture unveiled the preliminary cacao genome sequence in September 2010 – three years ahead of schedule – and made it public to help improve traditional breeding programs and ultimately bolster production to benefit millions of farmers worldwide.

Cocoa, one of the top ten global agricultural commodities, is a crucial crop for the economies of many developing nations and often accounts for a major portion of their GDPs.  Globally, approximately 6.5 million farmers –most on small, family-run farms –depend on cocoa for their livelihoods, but unfortunately, cocoa is hundreds of years behind most modern crops in terms of breeding selection cycles. As a result, plants are vulnerable to pests and diseases, leading to serious losses for farmers –and significant disruptions to global supply chains.
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The Netherlands has become the first country in the world to commit itself to only using palm oil certified under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

The commitment, which was presented last week as a manifesto, simply states that “by the end of 2015 all palm oil destined for the Dutch market has to be sustainable.”

As Europe’s largest trader of palm oil, the Netherlands can make a significant contribution to advancing sustainability in the world palm oil market. According to the manifesto: (more…)

Cargill’s newly released 2010 corporate responsibility report, titled “Growing Together,” highlights the company’s efforts across a variety of different operational elements, including food safety, responsible supply chains, environmental innovation, rural development, workplace safety and community engagement.

With regard to environmental stewardship, Cargill reports that it is:

• Using biogas to displace 20 to 25 percent of natural gas demand at its North American beef processing plants, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.3 million metric tons in the last four years.

• Becoming more energy efficient. For each unit of production, the company improved energy efficiency by 11 percent from its fiscal 2001 baseline. Cargill admits that falls short of its goal of 20 percent, yet says it has identified the skills and management systems needed to improve in the future. Cargill also measures energy use per $1,000 in sales, and by that measure the company is 24 percent more efficient from its baseline.

• Transforming the company’s knowledge about improving energy efficiency at its own locations into a business called Cargill Process Optimizers, which helps customers significantly improve their yields, energy efficiency and water efficiency.

I was pleased to see that Cargill also devotes a significant portion of its CSR report to a discussion of the company’s work in responsible supply chains and sourcing. For instance, in this section Cargill describes how it: (more…)