| |
In This Issue
Editor's Note
The Case for New Tools for Environmental Performance
After years of perfecting the measurement and management of individual environmental performance metrics such as water usage or greenhouse gas emissions, leading companies are now taking a systems approach to environmental management. Since 2005, BSR's Environmental Services, Markets & Tools (ESTM) Working Group has been at the forefront of this strategic shift.
In this week's feature article, BSR's Linda Hwang, Sissel Waage, and Kit Armstrong report on the group's recent workshop focused on business applications for tools measuring ecosystem services. The group found that while a clear business case for using the tools has been difficult to prove, their potential to significantly improve environmental performance management makes it worthwhile for business to invest in the further development of the tools.
Meanwhile, BSR's Beyond Monitoring Working Group released a new guide on using supplier partnerships to improve supply chain sustainability performance.
Lastly, we highlight a new series of case studies from work in the DR-CAFTA region that link responsible labor practices to increased competitiveness.
 |
In Depth
Measuring Environmental Performance: The Business Case for New Tools
By Sissel Waage, Director, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, BSR
After years of focus on the measurement and management of individual performance metrics, leading companies are now taking a systems approach to environmental management. BSR's Environmental Services, Markets & Tools Working Group is working with companies to define and articulate the business case for investing in tools that measure ecosystem services.
Read more →
|
Spotlight
Demonstration Projects Link Responsible Labor and Competitiveness
By Jessica Hyman, Associate, Operations, BSR
BSR's DR-CAFTA Responsible Competitiveness project released 14 case studies showcasing the link between responsible labor and competitiveness from successful projects throughout Central America. The studies document the successes and challenges of the projects and provide practical solutions for responsible labor practices.
The case studies outline how peer companies have:
- Enhanced worker-management relationships. To decrease the frequency of strikes on an AgroAmérica banana farm in Guatemala, BSR helped improve company-union communications through workshops, suggestion boxes, and message boards.
- Assessed workers' rights to facilitate access to new markets. BSR helped CAEI's sugar plantation in the Dominican Republic conduct a baseline assessment of labor conditions—including living wages, migrant worker documentation, and occupational health and safety (OHS) training—to identify opportunities for growth in markets with higher labor standards.
- Bolstered management systems to drive continuous improvement. BSR worked with one of Gildan's Honduran apparel factories to identify its most pressing OHS challenges and institute incentives to ensure continuous improvement. As a result, the factory improved its compliance rates and increased worker participation in their OHS program.
For more information, please contact Alison Colwell.
Toolbox
Partnering With Suppliers on Sustainability Management Systems
By
BSR's Beyond Monitoring Working Group released a new guide to help companies effectively partner with their suppliers to improve sustainability management practices. BSR recommends a continuous improvement approach that includes three components:
- Create a shared vision for how companies, suppliers, and factories can partner to achieve continuous improvement in supply chain sustainability performance. This includes identifying common priorities such as labor standards or environmental performance, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and setting specific, measurable goals such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions or increasing labor productivity by a specified percentage.
- Define and implement a process for assessing current management capabilities. This process should include a plan for how companies and suppliers can provide incentives for and share the benefits of the achievement of milestones.
- Evaluate suppliers' performance in achieving their sustainability goals in the following competency areas: commitment, policies, performance monitoring and improvement, documentation, communications, system review, and people.
|
|
|
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is having a ripple effect on energy companies operating in Europe, and the European Union is now looking at ways to make existing regulation more stringent for offshore operations.