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In This Issue
Editor's Note
Untangling the Data Web to Achieve Truly Sustainable Procurement
In recent years, we’ve seen a wealth of new data emerge to define the relative sustainability of products. However, finding ways to sift through, understand, and then apply this data to the procurement and purchasing of products has lagged. Procurement managers often have to decide on a product’s environmental or social benefits based on as many as 20 to 30 indicators–a daunting task.
In this week’s feature article, BSR’s Celine Suarez, Advisory Services Manager, advises how to get from the “what” of product sustainability data to the “how” of procuring products that align with a company’s sustainability strategy and approach. BSR’s Center for Sustainable Procurement offers one avenue to help companies make effective, efficient decisions about procurement.
We also share a quote from Pierre Sane, UNGC Board Member and President of Imagine Africa International, on the role of business in ensuring human rights, and we examine a poll that finds that people in emerging markets care about environmental protections–even at the expense of economic growth.
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In Depth
Going from ‘What’ to ‘How’ in Sustainable Procurement
By Celine Suarez, Manager, Advisory Services, BSR
We have made good progress producing certifications, labels, and data schemes that identify the sustainability information about various products. But how can procurement managers use that information effectively and efficiently?
Read more →
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On the Record
Emerging Themes from Rio: The Role of Business in Ensuring Human Rights
By Alison Colwell, Associate Director, Advisory Services, BSR
At the UN Global Compact's Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum session entitled "Corporate Respect and Support for Human Rights: A Key Foundation for Sustainability," panelists discussed their experiences conducting human rights due diligence, improving workers' well-being, and engaging with indigenous peoples. One panelist specifically highlighted the importance of respect for human rights as the core of all business activities: "Human rights are a critical gene in the make-up of sustainability because it is the foundation of justice and peace, healthy children, and sustainable livelihoods on the planet."
--Pierre Sane, UNGC Board Member and President of Imagine Africa International
BSR believes companies should go beyond risk mitigation to maximize opportunities to enhance human rights. Companies are increasingly taking, and must take, a leadership position in the social and environmental sustainability landscape. Side events such as the Corporate Sustainability Forum and other discussions at the Rio+20 Summit underlined this emerging theme.
Quick Hit
Priorities for Emerging Economies: Environment over Economic Growth?
By Julia Robinson, Communications Associate, BSR
A Gallup poll conducted in 2011 found that in emerging markets China, India, and Brazil, a large percentage of citizens felt that the environment should be prioritized, even if it jeopardized economic growth. Gallup points out that people living in the United States also expressed a desire to prioritize the environment over economic growth--until the recession in 2008. China's economic slowdown in the last year may also change the numbers, Gallup explains. Furthermore, more than three-quarters of respondents in China said they were satisfied with current efforts to preserve the environment, despite major, systemic environmental challenges such as air and water pollution in the country. According to the World Bank, the health costs of air and water pollution in China amount to about 4.3 percent of its GDP. At the same time, such sentiments might signal an increased focus on sustainability by emerging economies--as laid out in a BSR initiative, the New Geographies of Sustainability--that could shape future approaches to responsible business and governance.
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