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Audio | Tuesday June 4, 2024

The Environmental Impacts of AI

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Ameer Azim, Climate Change Director, chats with David Stearns on the Environmental Impact of AI, exploring:

• Why it’s important to assess the environmental impacts of a technology like AI.
• Through what type of activities or upgrades does the use of AI increase a company’s CO2 emissions?
• Beyond carbon emissions, what are some of the other environmental impacts associated with the rise of AI that companies should anticipate dealing with as they embrace this technology?
• What are some of the steps that companies can take to address these negative impacts?
• Can AI be used to combat climate change?

Audio | Tuesday October 1, 2024

Reflections from Climate Week NYC: The Tension Between Pragmatism and Ambition

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Immediately following Climate Week NYC, BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer chats with David Stearns about some of the inconvenient truths facing sustainability leaders going into this annual gathering, observations that gave him cause for optimism, and a look inside some of BSR’s events, including a debate over whether American political leadership is needed for advancing global climate action and shaping climate policies. Aron also highlights two new BSR publications featuring guidance for sustainability leaders on navigating these turbulent times, and new insights from over 30 Chief Sustainability Officers of BSR member companies.

Blog | Monday July 10, 2017

Shape the Future of Sustainable Business at the BSR Conference 2017

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The BSR Conference 2017 will serve as the centerpiece of our 25th anniversary celebration. So much has changed since BSR launched in 1992. Our very first Conference, in Washington, D.C. in 1993, brought to the plenary stage a new president in his first year: Bill Clinton. President Clinton embraced a view of business that would make a meaningful difference in enabling people to reach their potential, of businesses that knew that a healthy environment was central to their success. He also knew that global trade could—done right—lift billions of people out of poverty.

While the view from Washington looks different in 2017, there is no doubt that in the previous quarter-century, we have developed an amazing ecosystem of sustainability leaders. I am exceptionally proud of the role BSR has played in building a real movement of changemakers in business.

At our 25th annual Conference this year, we certainly will celebrate what we have accomplished, in collaboration with our great network of member companies and other partners. But even more, we will take the opportunity this October to look resolutely to the future.

This year’s event will create the opportunities for networking and learning that so many have come to expect from the BSR Conference. 

In keeping with our approach to the 25th anniversary, we are taking the opportunity to redefine sustainable business—and the Conference as well. The venue itself will provide new opportunities for informal interaction in an inspiring beach-side setting. We have built an agenda that will take full advantage of the natural environment—from our opening night reception and dinner by the ocean to our closing 25th anniversary celebration overlooking Huntington Beach.

The theme for the Conference is “How Business Leads.” At this moment in history, business leadership is essential. More and more, sustainability leadership is crucial to successful business. Sustainability presents unique opportunities for innovation and value creation. Businesses lead through powerful collaborations that are fit for a world of distributed assets and diverse perspectives. And in today’s climate, the voice of business is crucially important, as other sectors often abdicate their leadership responsibilities. 

We have shaped a Conference agenda that will look to the future. This comes at a time when technology, economics, and politics are rewriting the sustainability playbook. We have dedicated a special track, “FastForward 25,” to sessions that will project the kinds of changes that business can create to make good on the promise of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Fitting with our location in California, from where so much innovation comes, we also will have multiple speakers looking at new business models, new collaborations, and new ways of engaging consumers.

BSR’s first Conference brought together a small but mighty band of believers who had a vision of a new way of doing business. Today, our numbers are greater, and the vision remains just as powerful as it once was. The scope of our opportunity is just as powerful, too.

Every year, I am excited by the prospect of being with many great leaders whom I consider to be friends and partners. This year, at the intersection of BSR’s 25th anniversary, serious disruptions affecting business, and the need for business leadership and voice, the question I have found myself asking is: “How will we meet this unique moment?” 

Come to BSR17 to shape the answer: Our shared future depends on it.

Blog | Wednesday December 11, 2019

The New Climate for Ever-Evolving Technology: Q&A with Patrick Browne, Director, Sustainability, UPS

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Artificial intelligence. Autonomous vehicles. Sustainable fuel technologies. New and disruptive technologies are being adopted across all industries, making nearly every company—from agriculture to logistics—a tech company. This development is just one factor contributing to ‘the New Climate for Business,’ the theme of the BSR Conference 2019, which took place in San Jose, California last month. At the conference, UPS Director of Sustainability Patrick Browne joined us to share how UPS, as a logistics company, is adapting to the new climate of ever-evolving technology.

I had a chance to connect with Patrick to dive deeper into the types of new technologies UPS has deployed, the impact they have had so far, and plans to further integrate tech into their sustainability strategy for 2020 and beyond.

How is new technology playing a role in UPS sustainability efforts?

UPS is using innovative approaches to leverage new and disruptive technologies for an environmental benefit. Skyrocketing e-commerce is increasing demand for logistics and delivery services. The challenge for UPS is to meet this need and grow our business without significantly growing our carbon footprint.

We use a range of technologies to help improve the efficiency of our operations. For example, investments in ORION, our groundbreaking route optimization software, helps UPS determine the most efficient delivery route each day. ORION is essential to reducing emissions by minimizing UPS’s total miles driven. In the United States alone, ORION enables us to avoid 100 million miles and 10 million gallons of fuel each year—translating into 100,000 tons of emissions.

Why is it important to leverage new technology in addressing UPS’ energy use?

Our business sits at the intersection of disruptive trends, such as rapid urbanization and e-commerce growth, and associated challenges, such as congestion and climate change. At UPS, we’re embracing these trends and innovating to shape a future in which more people prosper, enterprises run more efficiently, and resources are conserved for future generations.

New technology allows UPS to stay on the cutting edge of sustainability. We’re investing in a range of technologies that could help reduce the environmental impact of last mile delivery, address urban congestion, and optimize daily routes. These shared value initiatives are good for the environment, our customers, and our bottom line.

What new, upcoming technologies is UPS looking into to achieve sustainability goals?

UPS is committed to developing and deploying technologies that improve service and enable more efficient operations of our global logistics network. In August, we announced a minority investment in autonomous driving company TuSimple, which is testing self-driving tractor trailers on a route in Arizona to determine whether the vehicles can improve service and efficiency in the UPS network.

We have long believed autonomous technologies would play an important role in the UPS Global Smart Logistics Network and the company’s transformation. We estimate that autonomous trucks will reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by 15 percent. The reduction of fuel consumption leads to a reduction in millions of metric tons of greenhouse gases (GHG). We are eager to determine how new technologies like this will help us increase efficiencies and reduce emissions.

What sustainability challenges require collaboration across industries/systemic responses? How is UPS engaging with partners on these issues?

Addressing global threats like climate change requires UPS—and all actors—to collaborate within the value chain and across industries. At UPS, collaboration is within our DNA. One great example is our Rolling Lab—our fleet of more than 10,000 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. Our involvement with BSR’s Future of Fuels working group has helped accelerate our work in this area.

Another example is related to sustainable e-commerce solutions and final-mile deliveries, especially in dense urban areas. Cities are growing more crowded every day, and people are becoming more reliant on deliveries of everyday goods directly to their doorstep. This convenience creates impacts people may not think about—more miles, more fuel, more emissions. So we’re working with customers, cities, vehicle manufacturers, and other partners to create innovative last-mile delivery solutions. We now have around 30 projects underway in cities around the world. To stay up to date on UPS’s sustainability initiatives, you can subscribe to the UPS Horizons newsletter.

Blog | Tuesday June 14, 2016

Sustainability and CSR: A Word about Terms

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If you came to BSR’s website looking for information on corporate social responsibility or to ask, “What is CSR?”, only to find a lot of talk about sustainability, you may be wondering why this is so and whether you’ve come to the right place (you have!).

So why does BSR focus on sustainability vs. CSR? And what’s the difference, anyway?

First, a quick qualifier: As a global nonprofit business network and consultancy, we take a flexible approach to the use of terms in our project work, reflecting the diverse needs and understanding of our members and partners in different parts of the world. In our experience, CSR, sustainability, sustainable business, corporate citizenship, and the like are all generally used to describe the same thing, and so we are happy to use whatever terms resonate most in a given place and context.

For purposes of our own branding and thought leadership, however, we see value in consistency and have made some clear choices based on what we are trying to achieve—and we recommend that our members do the same. In our case, the language of sustainability wins out over CSR for a number of reasons.

Sustainability conveys greater ambition because it focuses on what we need to achieve, rather than where we are today. The original definition of sustainable development, from the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992, focused on “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

The language and tools of CSR, at least in its early forms, tended to focus on meeting—or balancing—the needs of stakeholders today. Additionally, the term is often confused with philanthropy. As BSR and the broader field have come to focus more on long-term systemic issues, such as climate change and the inclusive economy, we felt that the ambition conveyed by sustainability better captures the objectives of our work.

Sustainability emphasizes a common agenda for all sectors of society, while the “C” in CSR calls out corporate practices more exclusively. BSR’s above-mentioned focus on critical systemic issues has come with a greater commitment to multistakeholder collaborative initiatives, in which business, government, and civil society all have critical roles to play.

Sustainability is a holistic concept that encompasses the full range of environmental, social, and economic issues addressed by our work. While the same is true of a good CSR strategy or program, the “S” in CSR is too-often construed to mean a narrower focus on social issues. That is also why we now go by “BSR” instead of our original moniker, “Business for Social Responsibility.”

Sustainability represents a concept that, in our experience, is more easily integrated into the core purpose of business than “responsibility,” which is often perceived as a check or counter-balance to business-as-usual activity. As the field has evolved from an exclusive focus on risk management and avoidance of harm to also encompass innovation and value creation, sustainability provides a more attractive and inspiring framing.

In short, “sustainability” reflects the ambition, reach, and inspiration required to achieve BSR’s mission of working with business to create a just and sustainable world. And although some may argue it’s just semantics, to us, sustainability—and what comes with it—is core to everything we do. 

Blog | Tuesday July 27, 2021

Reflections on a Sunset: Lessons Learned from the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition

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It has been seven months since we sunsetted the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC), and I’m still troubled by the question: “Did we fail?” 

If we measure our progress against our ambitions, the answer is “yes.”  

But I’m also compelled to make the case for “no.” While it didn’t live up to its full potential, we did something extraordinary. Our effort was valuable for those who participated and positively impacted thousands of employees’ lives around the world. The experience is worth learning from.

The GISC officially launched in 2016 with the aim of building more inclusive supply chains through Impact Sourcing—a business practice where companies prioritize suppliers that intentionally hire and provide career development opportunities to people who otherwise have limited prospects for formal employment.

We began with 20 members, and by the end of 2020, we had the support of over 75 companies and stakeholder organizations hailing from 32 countries. But ultimately, at the end of last year, BSR and the GISC Steering Committee made the responsible decision to disband the GISC, releasing the resources and energy we had centralized back into the universe to support new opportunities.

At BSR, we believe that collaborations go further and deeper when they are designed for impact and that the practice of multistakeholder collaboration is very much a work in progress. In our efforts to continuously improve, we are sharing a Lessons Learned report that seeks to capture both the successes and missteps that we encountered while running the GISC—so that other collective action efforts can build on our experience. 

What Worked Well

GISC’s premise was simple: By prioritizing suppliers that have established inclusive employment initiatives, GISC members could send a powerful market signal to all corporate suppliers—which employ a fifth of the global workforce—encouraging them to compete based on their social impact. Inspired by the supplier diversity movement, we held the ambition for all large companies to pledge a percentage of their procurement spend toward suppliers that intentionally offer good, career-advancing jobs to people who formerly lived in poverty.

To our delight, this market-driven approach began to work. Many supplier companies launched or expanded their inclusive employment programs to better distinguish themselves to their clients. They also began to update their policies and practices in accordance with the requirements of the GISC’s Impact Sourcing Standard and, as a result, created more inclusive workplaces and good jobs for all employees.

Due to the commitments of companies like GISC’s supplier members to hiring the most vulnerable in their communities, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is both expanding its talent pool and more evenly distributing gains across entire communities.

Our most visible success resulted from a multi-year Impact Sourcing Challenge that led GISC suppliers to pledge and then meet their goal to employ over 29,000 impact workers in good jobs from 19 countries around the world. This included people on the autism spectrum in the United States, long-term unemployed youth in South Africa, and people who formerly lived in poverty in India and the Philippines. Furthermore, suppliers reported to the GISC many additional business benefits that companies often report experiencing with more inclusive and diverse cultures, such as decreased turnover and a more highly motivated workforce, further reinforcing their commitment to inclusive employment.

What We Could Have Done Better

At the same time that we were seeing these advancements, cracks in our business model began to appear, and they only deepened as the GISC grew.

Among other important lessons, we should have worked to secure, from an early stage, multiple funding partners who shared the GISC’s vision for market-driven poverty alleviation across supply chains and who could provide strategic injections of philanthropic and patient capital to support this long-term vision.

We found that a business model built entirely around membership dues was weighted by the requirement to deliver member benefits, making it more difficult to engage in forward investment and the creation of public goods. To continue our progress, we would have needed to invest in in-depth measurement and evaluation, rightsholder engagement and consultation, due diligence, advocacy to reach new audiences, and to build up an emergency fund to better react to unexpected circumstances.

And because of these missteps, just as we had the evidence that our theory of change was robust and it was time to hit the accelerator to reach scale, we ran out of the funds necessary to do so.

Through the GISC, we managed to rally a wave of professional and personal energy whose ripples continue to spread around the world in new and exciting ways. We are proud to note that, beyond GISC’s tenure, many former member companies, industry networks, and other stakeholders have stepped up to continue to champion the Impact Sourcing movement, utilizing their influence, communications, and networks to inspire more companies. Several GISC members have gone on to launch Impact Sourcing chapters and working groups, taking collaborative efforts forward in key geographies such as North America, India, and South Africa.

We hope that, in reading the Lessons Learned report, you see that we were able to go further through collective action than any one organization could have alone and that there are many metrics beyond a collaboration’s continuation that might better define impact and success.

BSR continues to support companies in developing their Impact Sourcing strategies, so please contact us to learn more. And be sure to join the Impact Sourcing Champions LinkedIn group to connect with like-minded professionals.

Blog | Tuesday March 20, 2018

Our Challenge to Businesses: Hire 100,000 New Impact Workers by 2020

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The Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC)—a collaboration between leading companies to build more inclusive supply chains—is challenging the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to hire 100,000 new impact workers by 2020. This challenge is made in tandem with our launch of the world’s first Impact Sourcing Standard, designed to increase client companies’ adoption of Impact Sourcing as a high-impact procurement practice by setting out uniform criteria for suppliers.

Together, the standard and the challenge have the potential to drive job creation for economically and socially vulnerable people across global supply chains.

Through participating in GISC, client companies can partner with a network of suppliers around the world that are committed to upholding the Impact Sourcing Standard, which defines required policies, practices, and management systems expected of suppliers that set about hiring, training, and creating career opportunities for employees who were previously long-term unemployed or living below the poverty line. We call these employees impact workers because their employment can help them realize their potential to achieve economic self-sufficiency and support their families and communities.

Kemar, an employee at Sutherland Jamaica, describes his experience: “In high school I was concerned that, based on where I lived, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to be employed. A community leader came to me and said there are people who want to get in contact with youth like myself who grew up in volatile communities [to train us and help us find jobs]. I thought, let’s see what happens, and I am very thankful for the opportunity that was given to me.”

The benefits of Impact Sourcing include the following:

This practice is not just good for impact workers. It also benefits suppliers and their buyers directly. For buyers, the benefits include a more stable supplier workforce, as well as increased social impact and a demonstration of corporate citizenship.

Suppliers, meanwhile, gain access to a large and untapped talent pool, save costs compared with traditional workers, and stand to benefit from increased workforce performance. Cathy Kalamaras, managing executive of people at Webhelp SA, says of the benefits of inclusive employment, “In 2017, we placed 230 Impact Sourcing candidates into our business. Over and above the ROI, which showed a 46 percent cost saving and performance delivery improvements, we have enjoyed the enthusiasm, positive attitudes, and willingness to develop of our new group of colleagues. Webhelp sees this as testimony that this is a sourcing model well worth investing in.”

With the launch of this Standard, GISC is also unveiling our bold challenge to buyers and suppliers: to hire 100,000 impact workers by 2020. By taking part in the Challenge, companies will be contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8 and 10.

Many of GISC’s members have already stepped up to the challenge, collectively pledging to hire 12,000 impact workers by 2020, with more pledges to come. Murali Vullaganti, founder and CEO of Impact Sourcing social enterprises PeopleShores and RuralShores, says, “As part of our continued commitment to improving lives through Impact Sourcing, we are pleased to respond to the Impact Sourcing Challenge and pledge to hire 3,000 new impact workers across different states of India in our RuralShores business and 1,000 new impact workers across different states of the United States for our PeopleShores business by the end of 2020.”  

We invite all buyers and their suppliers to get involved. For more information, please reach out to us.

Blog | Tuesday October 16, 2018

The Future Is on the Agenda at BSR18—Will You Join Us?

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This year’s BSR Conference comes at a time of profound change. Market conditions are turbulent. Around the world, poverty rates continue to fall—at the same time, inequality continues to grow.

Technology is sparking both utopian and dystopian views of the future. Culture is also changing fast, not least through the #MeToo movement. And just last week, the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reveals that despite many important initiatives, the world is not taking sufficient action to avoid seriously damaging climate change.

It is almost certainly the case that these changes, many of which are intertwined, will only grow in pace and intensity in the years ahead. What is a business to make of all these changes, and how can companies navigate our era of intense, inter-connected, non-linear change?

What is a business to make of all these changes, and how can companies navigate our era of intense, inter-connected, non-linear change?

At the BSR Conference 2018, we will be unveiling scenarios that can help you and your company make sense of the evolving world over the coming years and decades. These are not predictions of what the world will be like in 2019 or 2028. Rather, they aim to illuminate the underlying forces that are creating the market and social framework in which business will be operating.

Specifically, the scenarios revolve around two fundamental questions:

1. What forces of centralization and decentralization will define our culture, economy, and political context?
2. Will the world continue to rely on familiar, consumption-led economic models or shift to a new economic model that defines value in a more holistic way?

There is no single answer to these questions. Instead, we will present four scenarios that anticipate how these crucial questions could play out by 2030.

These scenarios tell stories of how our world might evolve, with important implications for business.

This is no academic exercise. Each of our four scenarios explores core elements of the sustainable business agenda: the shape of supply chains, availability of natural resources, and nature of employment, as well as product and service development, health, and energy and climate. In this way, the scenarios will enable planning and decision-making central to the achievement of the social, economic, and environmental outcomes crucial to business and embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

These scenarios will be unveiled on the opening night of the Conference. But they are intended to live well beyond that: We hope that these scenarios will be widely used throughout the BSR network to consider how business can shape strategies that will thrive, regardless of which scenario, or hybrid of these scenarios, ultimately defines the coming decade.

As we continue in our effort (launched at last year’s BSR Conference) to redefine sustainable business, we aspire to drive the agenda forward with this year’s event. As ever, the Conference will facilitate new partnerships and collaborations through networking opportunities with participants from around the globe. It will present insights and inspiration from a diverse array of speakers from the private sector, civil society, government, academia, and elsewhere.

We will explore the ways that leadership is practiced in our fast-changing world. Our sessions will offer both provocative thinking to change how you think about sustainability in the long term and practical insights you can use the following week.

If a truly just and sustainable world is our desired endpoint—and it must be—then the scenarios we will introduce can help companies and business leaders across sectors understand the changing conditions on the journey toward that goal.

We look forward to welcoming you to New York and to joining with you to make the most positive possible future our new reality.

Blog | Wednesday November 9, 2022

Inside BSR: Q&A with Jonathan Morris

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Tell us a bit about your background. Where are you from, and where are you based? What does a day in your life look like? What is your favorite hobby?

I was born and raised in New Jersey, studied computer science in upstate New York, and spent the first stop of my career working as a packaging developer for Coty in New York City. I had a “crisis of conscience” in my mid-20s and ultimately made my way across the pond to study sustainability at HEC Paris. I’ve lived in France for over 13 years, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

A day in my life consists of lots of family time with my wife and two little ones, Olivier (5) and Agatha (3), biking in and around Paris, often on the way to the BSR office. My evenings are split between home-cooked meals with friends, a handful of hobbies, and a fair amount of external work events. My favorite hobby is definitely singing—second only to training for races. I’ve been singing and playing instruments since I was little, and today I’m a tenor soloist in a 30-person choir.

What are some interesting projects that you get to work on as part of your role at BSR? What do you enjoy about them?

I got involved in sustainable business thanks to a fluke, really. I was studying sustainability at the Business School HEC, but it was a real career shift moment and those are never guaranteed.

HEC held a speed-networking event with alumni, and I met Pablo Fuentes who had just finished the same masters program and then interned at BSR (who now works for Rever Consulting in Brazil). Once he described BSR’s work and mission, I was convinced it was the place for me.

I’ve now been with BSR for almost 12 years, and I've worn multiple hats over the years. I first supported our work in stakeholder engagement, sustainable fashion, and French regulation, and I supported a number of collaborations, such as Clean Cargo and Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Working Group. I also joined the Consumer Sectors team as BSR’s beauty and personal care sector lead, working with companies like L’Oréal and Estee Lauder. And over time I became our global reporting lead, founding our Future of Reporting collaboration.

Recently, I’ve shifted gears once again and I have three prime responsibilities: I lead BSR’s Paris office, I lead the intersection of tech and industrials sectors for EMEA, and I lead our engagement with high-growth companies in EMEA.

What issues are you passionate about and why? How does your work at BSR reflect that?

That’s my real passion—working in tech and in sustainability. I’ve always been a self-professed tech geek. I grew up surrounded by tech. My mom started her own communications business in our basement, and we always had cutting-edge Macs and high-speed internet. It was a perfect storm.

I found ways to involve myself with our technology members over the years, but today I count myself incredibly lucky to dedicate much of my time to solving the crunchy tech sector sustainability challenges—from identifying human rights risks to defining responsible product development and use practices, to enabling more sustainable e-commerce and building sustainability programs from the ground up for early-stage companies—and beyond.

There’s something about people working in tech. They’re passionate, innovative, energetic, and disruptive—but increasingly extremely well-informed on the responsibility that comes with the power of tech in the 21st century. It’s thrilling. And I get to dive into incredibly fun topics like AI, VR, virtual twins, the metaverse, electric vehicles, and much more. Working on these exciting and daunting topics is a way of pairing my passion for tech and my driving need to work on sustainability. As I said, I’m incredibly lucky.

What were the things that brought you joy amid the uncertainty and challenges of the past two years? What are you looking forward to in 2022 and beyond?

These past two years of COVID have been a challenge. But what has brought me joy amidst all of that is simple—the people around me. Watching my little ones continue to grow, finding a new rhythm with my partner, working with incredibly supportive colleagues, and connecting with family, friends, and peers all around the world in our shared, virtual, at-home existence. It was surreal, but it was also heartening that we found ways to reach out and be with each other.

Looking forward can be daunting. We have our work cut out for us. The planet’s getting warmer, our political divides are deepening, and our once taken-for-granted progress on issues like gender equality and diversity are being put into question. We have to accelerate our work. While tech alone won’t save us, I look forward to deepening my work in the sector and with the BSR team, because I know our people are motivated to overcome these challenges and make the world that much better.

Case Studies | Friday June 3, 2011

Actionable Research on Sustainability

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Our Research team tracks emerging trends and solutions central to building sustainable business. We aim to help business leaders stay ahead of the curve and shape future-oriented decisions on a wide range of challenges, from energy management, to sustainable consumption, to human rights.

We produce our research with two key business audiences in mind: executives responsible for shaping corporate strategy and practitioners in charge of implementation. Over the past three years, our output has grown considerably, and so, too, have the ways we convey our findings. Like many organizations, we have expanded the media through which we deliver our research, relying on traditional channels like reports, events, the BSR Insight, and external publications in the field of sustainability. In 2010, we also expanded our influence through the addition of social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Youku (a Chinese video-sharing site), allowing us to reach new audiences with our research.

Research in 2010

In 2010, we focused on climate and energy, ecosystem services, human rights, and sustainable consumption.

In addition to offering insight on emerging trends and solutions, BSR’s Research efforts focus on applied learning designed to promote and accelerate innovative efforts across our member company network, the wider business community, and the public. We achieve this by marrying lessons learned through project work with research and analysis that allows for wider adoption of good practices.

Our climate and energy initiative provides one example of how this works. After working on Walmart’s supply chain energy-efficiency program in China, we produced a research guide showing companies how to replicate Walmart’s work with their own Chinese suppliers. Based on that research, we launched our Energy Efficiency Partnership (EEP) initiative, which brings BSR member companies together with major suppliers to improve energy management. The group has three objectives:

1. Create a platform to share investments and think collectively about emerging issues.
2. Train suppliers in the Guangdong and Shanghai regions on energy management.
3. Collect effective energy information for reporting to sponsoring companies.

Initially comprising 10 companies and nearly 80 suppliers in the consumer products; ICT; and food, beverage, and agriculture industries, EEP trained suppliers to develop energy-management plans and introduced them to local energy-service companies to help them pinpoint opportunities for improvement. As a result, suppliers started more than 100 projects that will help them conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2011, we will broaden EEP participation and develop tools for bringing energy-efficiency innovations to scale.

Also in 2011, we will focus on a new initiative related to sustainability futures—identifying the key trends that shape business success in the industries with which we work. We will also explore the business opportunities in making sustainable consumption a reality, and we will build on our previous work looking at how the world is responding to sustainability challenges and the implications for the future of business.