| |
In This Issue
Editor's Note
The Business Case for Responsible Labor
From decreased rates of injury and worker absenteeism, to enhanced worker-company dialogue and reduced labor-management tensions, investments in responsible labor deliver tangible benefits to workers and companies.
Now that our DR-CAFTA Responsible Competitiveness Project is complete, BSR Manager Terry Nelidov and University of California, San Diego Professor Richard Feinberg reflect on these insights and others gained from this three-year project in today’s feature article.
Related to the DR-CAFTA project, we’re releasing “Stories From the Field,” a compendium of case studies that highlight the opportunities, strategies, and results from our 14 demonstration projects, which covered issues from eradicating child labor in sugarcane production in El Salvador to improving ergonomics and stakeholder dialogue at an apparel factory in Honduras.
Finally, BSR Manager Chhavi Ghuliani provides recommendations for how companies operating in the water-stressed regions of the Middle East and North Africa can create targeted climate change adaptation strategies.
 |
In Depth
Stories From the Field
Interview with Richard Feinberg, Professor, University of California, San Diego, by Terry Nelidov, Manager, Advisory Services, BSR
BSR Manager Terry Nelidov recently sat down with University of California, San Diego Professor Richard Feinberg to discuss highlights from BSR's three-year DR-CAFTA Responsible Competitiveness project and practical tools that companies anywhere in the world can apply to their labor and competitiveness strategies.
Read more →
|
Spotlight
Climate Change Adaptation in the Middle East
By Chhavi Ghuliani, Manager, Advisory Services, BSR
In the Middle East and North Africa, where half of the population already lives under water-stressed conditions, climate change and the expected rise in global temperatures will likely intensify persistent issues such as droughts and floods. To avoid the business risks posed by climate change, companies operating in the region need to create targeted adaptation strategies.
As detailed in my recent ClimateBiz article, companies should aim to:
-
Understand the scale of the problem: In a region where almost no companies report on their emissions data, a first step for business is to look at their own climate impact.
-
Identify opportunities for greater efficiency: Resources in the region are scarce. Companies that can innovate around products that do more with less are most likely to thrive.
-
Meet investors' and customers' requirements for climate change information: Jordan-based Aramex set a goal to become carbon neutral because many companies in Europe will not accept a bid without information on the company's environmental impacts.
Read the full article published in ClimateBiz, or contact Chhavi Ghuliani.
Toolbox
The Case (Book) for Responsible Labor
By
BSR's new "Stories From the Field" provides a reader-friendly collection of 14 case studies from our DR-CAFTA Responsible Competitiveness Project in Central America and the Dominican Republic, which BSR created and led to make the business case for responsible labor in the region.
As part of the DR-CAFTA project, we sponsored 14 demonstration projects across six countries and documented each in a case study. The cases in the book include projects covering labor relations in the conflict-prone banana industry of Guatemala, ergonomics and stakeholder dialogue at an apparel factory in Honduras, and working conditions for Haitian sugarcane cutters in the Dominican Republic. The lessons learned from the successes and challenges of these projects are relevant for companies—big and small—tackling labor and sustainability issues anywhere in the world.
To learn more about our ongoing work in Latin America, or to request a hard copy of "Stories From the Field," in English or Spanish, contact Luis Garnier or Terry Nelidov.
|
|
|
