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In This Issue
Editor's Note
Climate Change and Desertification
On the World Day to Combat Desertification later this week, most of the discussion will likely focus on government intervention and NGO assistance. But as climate change compounds the problem of deserts, desertification presents both risks and opportunities for business.
In her feature article, BSR's Environmental Manager Laura Ediger explores how some companies are investing in local projects to halt or reverse desertification, engaging with suppliers to reduce degradation, and creating products that improve agricultural sustainability and enable the restoration of damaged land.
Racheal Yeager—who has just returned from trips to Bangladesh and to Washington, D.C., to promote business investments in women—blogs on last week's Women Deliver conference and offers recommendations for business to use health-related opportunities to reduce factory workers' absenteeism and turnover, improve morale, and boost productivity.
And we hear from Timberland's Chief Branding Officer Mike Harrison, who spoke about the importance of communicating about the company's sustainability commitment at the Sustainable Brands conference in California last week.
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In Depth
Climate Change and Desertification: The Link to Corporate Responsibility
By Laura Ediger, Associate Director, Advisory Services, BSR
Global climate change is exacerbating the degradation of dry landscapes on every continent. As the risks grow, businesses are addressing desertification as a part of broader efforts to look comprehensively at their environmental impacts.
Read more →
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Spotlight
Focusing on Women’s Health for Business Returns
Last week, BSR and 25 of our HERproject partners from China, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to share best practices for our factory-based women's health-education program, create curriculum standards, and launch the program in the country.
To help companies and their suppliers take advantage of health-related opportunities to reduce absenteeism and turnover, improve worker morale, and boost productivity, BSR and our partners developed the following recommendations:
- Learn about women's health issues in your supply chain, and share the business case for improving them with new and existing suppliers.
- Incorporate personal health and sanitation into auditing protocols.
- Encourage suppliers to create health committees with participation by female workers, human resources, and clinic staff.
- Encourage equal representation of women in human-resources and clinic-staff positions to support female workers.
- Explore with your suppliers options for offering women's health-related benefits, services, or products within the factory.
Read detailed recommendations or email Racheal Yeager to learn more.
On the Record
How Timberland Learned to Talk About Its Walk
By
Though Timberland has had a longstanding commitment to sustainability, the company hadn't widely communicated about it until just a few years ago. At last week’s Sustainable Brands 2010 conference, Timberland's chief brand officer explained how the launch of the company's Earthkeepers line of boots, shoes, and accessories made from recycled and renewable materials was an opportunity to tell a new story and engage its customers.
"We were in danger of being all walk and no talk when it came to sustainability. Why? Because we weren't sure how to talk about sustainability, and we weren't sure how much consumers cared about it when it came to boots.
We had been growing successfully for many years without talking about sustainability. … We had to admit we had been complacent. We allowed people to define our brand. We decided that it was essential to reposition our brand around a core promise of being an authentic, outdoor, sustainable brand, as opposed to just a fashion brand."
—Mike Harrison, Chief Brand Officer, Timberland (June 10, 2010)
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Everyone is talking about women and girls this week in Washington, D.C.—from Ban Ki-moon, the White House's Valerie Jarrett, the State Department's Melanne Verveer to Arianna Huffington, the former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, and Melinda Gates. Companies are talking too: Coca-Cola, Newmont Mining, Exxon Mobile, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Gap, Inc., and Vestergaard Frandsen, among others. More importantly, these leaders are backing their words with action.