Innovation Forum's Responsible Sourcing & Ethical Trade Forum
BRODIE’s Key Takeaways from the Innovation Forum's Responsible Sourcing & Ethical Trade Forum 2023
Global supply chains have been up against it over the last couple of years: from full-on pandemic paralysis to the crippling impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with its knock-on effect on food and energy prices worldwide. Never before have procurement teams been under so much pressure to keep the wheels turning in the multinational businesses that provide so many of our goods and services.
Innovation Forum’s Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trade Forum, sponsored by BRODIE, took place in London last month, bringing together subject matter experts and stakeholders from across the globe to discuss the practicalities of supply chain transformation and the future of ethical trade. Here are Team BRODIE’s five key takeaways from the event:
1. Trust your procurement function
Don’t get stuck in the business case for responsible sourcing: use your procurement team’s skills and take the time - and curiosity - to translate what is needed in terms of sourcing into the language of value creation for the business. Then trust your procurement colleagues to deliver. Senior leadership buy-in was noted by speakers as a critical factor to help close the gap between policies at the top and better buying practices. Unilever was mentioned as an exemplar, with its CEO responsible for its human rights approach.
2. Don’t get caught up in compliance
Legislation, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Germany’s Supply Chain Act (LkSG), is providing much-needed guide rails, with the potential to help level the playing field for businesses. But companies that are serious about addressing issues in their supply chains must be prepared to go beyond compliance. On top of this, panellists noted that laws can sometimes have unintended consequences: businesses that terminate supplier relationships outright, rather than addressing non-compliance or the threat of operating in high-risk geographies, can end up leaving the most vulnerable in their supply chain still exposed. It’s our opinion that legislation must also come with transparent, proportionate, and targeted enforcement.
3. Have the courage to embrace risk through management systems
Companies are encouraged to engage and manage risks using the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as the foundation for their approach. Finding non-compliances means due diligence and grievance mechanisms are working, and these data points can offer valuable, ground-level insights to help bring in contextualised mitigation. Of course, being faced with non-compliances is bound to cause some anxiety for key stakeholders - executives and investors in particular - so it’s important to make sure they’re aligned and fully understand the approach.
4. Engage for success across and adjacent to your value chain
Making sure all relevant stakeholders – including workers and Trade Unions - are consulted when developing and monitoring a company’s approach to human rights will take you closer to making it appropriate and accessible for all involved. For example, grievance mechanisms are proven to be more effective when designed in consultation with those they’re intended to protect. Consulting local NGOs can be valuable for companies looking to provide context-based access to remedy non-compliances. This kind of local partnership can also help to navigate often complex legislative environments in host countries.
5. There’s no climate mitigation without human rights
Evidence is mounting for the close interdependence of environmental and social progress, and businesses are responding by creating programmes to address both together. Panellists stressed the importance of and benefits to farmer – and especially female - livelihoods when companies put them at the forefront of efforts to mitigate climate change, protect and regenerate nature.
Get in touch
Do get in touch if you have any thoughts, you think we’ve missed something, or you’d like to discuss how we can help you with your sustainability goals.
BRODIE develops sustainability trends and market insights for a number of leading companies. We have also developed a breadth of sustainability strategies and action plans, including executive and stakeholder engagement and communications as well as business analysis and planning.
Email us at hello@brodiepartners.com