Each week, the Erb Institute shares a collection of news and updates regarding business sustainability. This month, the Erb Institute blog and social media are focusing on a key aspect to both business and sustainability: supply chain.
Sustainable Business News – 1/27/2018 – 2/2/2018
Supply Chain
How to get suppliers to act on climate
GreenBiz
“More than 1,000 of the world’s largest companies report their greenhouse gas emissions and have emissions-reduction targets for their own operations. Now, they want the thousands of companies that supply them with goods and services to reduce their own emissions.
To jumpstart the process, 99 large companies ask the CDP to survey more than 9,000 of their suppliers to determine how many have climate goals and where they are in the process.”
Honda, Nestle, Microsoft among companies recognized for sustainability
Supply Chain Dive
“Environmental disclosure platform CDP has named 58 companies for their sustainability initiatives — twice the number it named last year. Among the companies are Apple, Coca-Cola, Honda, Johnson & Johnson and Nestle.”
IKEA makes first US forest investment to support sustainable supply chain
Environmental Leader
“As part of its proven strategy to invest in the sustainable production of resources that the company consumes both directly and indirectly, IKEA purchased about 25,000 acres of forest property in Alabama – its first US forest property. Forest management will be handled by Campbell Global.”
Was your seafood caught with slave labor? New database helps retailers combat abuse
NPR
“The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, known best for its red, yellow and green sustainable seafood-rating scheme, is unveiling its first Seafood Slavery Risk Tool on Thursday. It’s a database designed to help corporate seafood buyers assess the risk of forced labor, human trafficking and hazardous child labor in the seafood they purchase.
The tool’s release comes on the heels of a new report that confirms forced labor and human rights abuses remain embedded in Thailand’s fishing industry, years after global media outlets first documented the practice.”
Circularity, sustainability take hold in toy industry
Sustainable Brands
“The closed-loop conversation is often one that focuses on e-waste, fashion and single-use plastics, but LEGO Group and Antwerp-based design furniture brand ecoBirdy are aiming to change that by bringing the concept of circularity and sustainability to the toy front.
Supported by the EU’s program for the competitiveness of SMEs (COSME), ecoBirdyhas launched its first collection of design furniture for kids made entirely from recycled plastic toys. The launch follows two years of research exploring how to sustainably recycle plastic toys.”
How public-private partnerships fight climate change in the cocoa supply chain
GreenBiz
“Deforestation is a growing and serious problem, and for Mondelēz International, it makes up the largest part of our carbon footprint. We are committed to addressing this global phenomenon, focusing on areas where we can make the biggest difference, such as palm oil and in our cocoa-growing communities. When it comes to cocoa, our emphasis of late has been on Ghana.
Ghana supplies about 20 percent of the world’s cocoa, and it has one of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, at 3.2 percent per annum (PDF). The situation demands attention and it’s one reason we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the local government and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).”
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