2Sustain

For years now, consumers, investors, advocacy groups and other stakeholders have been pressing for improved transparency in business practices, and in line with appeals like these, California legislators passed the Transparency in Supply Chain Act (SB 657), effective as of January 1, 2012.

Simply put, The Transparency in Supply Chain Act requires retailers and manufacturers to publicly disclose their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains. The law applies to all corporations doing business in California with more than $100 million in worldwide gross receipts, and as a result, it’s estimated to affect some 3,200 companies.

Not surprisingly, the new regulations have been the subject of much debate. (more…)

Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s leading retailers, revealed a new £1 billion (about $1.6 billion USD) sustainability plan last week, establishing 20 specific targets the company wants to achieve by 2020.

The Sainsbury’s 20 by 20 Sustainability Plan will focus on four key areas: (more…)

Last week, Molson Coors Brewing Company released its 2011 online corporate responsibility report, highlighting the company’s performance in five key areas: environmental stewardship, governance and ethics, employees and community, alcohol responsibility and responsible sourcing.

Specifically with regard to environmental stewardship, Molson Coors has shown progress in several major categories, including:  (more…)

With the economy showing clear signs of improvement, the demand for procurement software is expected to rise.

Naturally, that’s good news for us here at Aravo, and I agree with Michael Koploy who points out at The Software Advice Blog, that there are several reasons why businesses will be accelerating their investment in procurement management systems over the coming year. In particular, Michael says he has his eye on these six trends:
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BSR member companies are continuing with their sustainability programs in the year ahead, despite ongoing concerns about the world’s economy.

In fact, nearly all (94 percent) of the 377 respondents in the BSR/GlobeScan State of Sustainable Business Poll 2010 said that their companies plan to maintain or increase their budgets for CSR/sustainability programs 2011, and nearly three-quarters also anticipate increasing the amount of internal and external CSR/sustainability communications.

As you might expect, climate change remains an important focus of these efforts, with 63 percent of respondents selecting it more than any other issue as either a “significant” or “very significant” priority. However, it’s also with noting that the urgency around climate change appears to have decreased from last year, when the Copenhagen climate summit was approaching. The proportion of respondents who considered climate change a “very significant” priority declined from 41 percent in 2009 to 27 percent this year—a drop from first on the list to third.
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