Download environmental assessments

Industry news - sustainability
PAGE 14
Environmental assessments
Companies and industries strongly engaged in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have taken significant steps
in their sourcing policies to reduce unethical and inhuman working conditions by controlling their subcontractors
along the supply chain. Until now, the primary focus has been on working conditions, but CSR also encompasses
environmental concerns as part of a global sustainability approach. In the last few years, environmental concerns
have largely been raised by third parties, whether NGOs, media, or anyone else not directly involved in supply
chains.
complex undertaking
Improving environmental conditions
in a global supply chain is complex.
Developing countries are at differing
stages of industrialisation. Local
regulatory frameworks usually vary
considerably from country to country and
law enforcement is often weak. Also,
environmental concerns can be very
different from one industry to another.
For all these reasons, building a global
environmental improvement programme
applicable to different countries and
industries can be a real challenge. Last
but not least, retailers and brands do
not always have the power to force
changes on their suppliers. Therefore, it
is necessary to obtain suppliers’ buy-in.
first steps have been taken
Initiatives such as the GSCP (Global
Social Compliance Programme) or the
FTA (Foreign Trade Association) have
been started in order to tackle this
area. They were created by and for
global buying companies wishing to
improve the environmental footprint
of their supply base. Several levels or
approaches are under consideration:
Basic compliance with
environmental legal requirements,
such as laws, directives, and policies
dealing with classic concerns (GHG,
resource preservation, pollution
prevention etc.)
Legal compliance along with
proactive management leading
to operational excellence and
implementation of good practices
Pursuit of improvement, support
from an independent party, working
on new management systems to
enhance environmental performance
and integration into society.
The assessment of suppliers includes
every potential environmental impact
and compliance against local regulations.
This conformity assessment allows
distributors and importers to set up the
baseline for an improvement process,
and to define a road map in the short or
long term, to reach conformity level and
above.
How to motivate your supply chain?
It’s important that suppliers/
manufacturers are supported and
prompted to increase their awareness
of environmental regulations before
implementing any action plan.
A possible approach to supporting
suppliers/manufacturers in improving
environmental conditions would include
the following two steps:
THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS this begins with a self-assessment
implemented by the producer itself,
through a specific questionnaire followed
by a critical review from a third party.
The supplier situation can then be
specifically evaluated, to enable sorting
and ranking of suppliers according to
environmental risk profiles. Then, an
on-site audit is conducted to identify
gaps compared with local requirements
and buyers’ policies. It helps suppliers to
identify and prioritise actions to reach the
expected conformity level.
THE IMPROVEMENT PROCESS - after
the assessment phase, there is the
opportunity to support suppliers through
a continuous improvement programme,
beyond conformity level, adapted to the
production site and tailored to suppliers’
commitment and engagement. A variety
of modules of training and support are
offered by third parties and adapted to
satisfy the specific needs of suppliers;
there are options of classroom training
with delivery of in-depth knowledge
of the conformity requirements, for
suppliers with all kinds of environmental
risk levels. There is also individual
support available, including regular onsite visits, workshops, and follow-up of
regulation relative to non-compliances
detected while auditing, preferably for
medium- and high-risk suppliers.
The overall assessment and
improvement phases can last from two
to four months, depending on supplier
readiness.
As SGS is involved in CSR-oriented
services and solutions, we are
proposing a new assessment service for
environmental conditions at production
sites. Along with initiatives references,
SGS has developed this service to
be offered in line with the approach
described above, which includes the
following three main steps:
An environmental compliance
assessment
A compliance and continuous
improvement assessment (i.e. on
proactive management)
Support to suppliers to achieve
conformity level and/or to improve
their environmental footprint.
For more information on SGS support
with environmental assessments, please
contact:
Anne-Lise Legrand
Social Responsibility Solutions
Technical Expert
SGS Consumer Testing Services
[email protected]
t +33 1 41 24 87 26