GEMI hosts workshop on supply chain sustainability harmonization
Washington, DC – The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), the global leader in developing insights, networking and creating collaborative sustainability solutions for business, organized a workshop on supply chain sustainability harmonization on June 20-21 in Washington, DC. The workshop discussion built on research and industry engagement conducted through GEMI’s Supply Chain Sustainability project and included an update on GEMI’s supply chain sustainability research to date.
The workshop brought together key industry groups, 3rd party providers and corporate leaders to discuss leading industry approaches to addressing supply chain sustainability, and opportunities to enhance coordination/collaboration across efforts. Speakers included representatives from the American Chemistry Council, American Forest Foundation, CDP, Ecodesk, EcoVadis, Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance, Environmental Defense Fund, FedEx, Merck, Nadler Strategy, MBJ Strategies, Plastics Industry Association, Smithfield Foods, Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council, The Sustainability Consortium, US Environmental Protection Agency and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production.
Participants examined principles used for assessing supplier sustainability across industries and outlined opportunities to promote mutual recognition/increased harmonization across industry efforts. GEMI identified several next steps as a follow up to the discussions including, finalizing a GEMI Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions Map with associated Case Studies; further developing a set of Guiding Principles that companies and broader industry stakeholder groups may use to guide supply chain sustainability assessment; and, developing a framework for the next phase of GEMI’s supply chain sustainbility work including convening 3rd party providers, industry groups and companies to continue the dialog on opportunities for convergence of SCS data collection efforts.
Special thanks to GEMI’s member companies and Supply Chain Sustainability project participants for their leadership and engagement, including American Chemistry Council, Ashland, Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable, Carnival Corporation & plc, Corn Refiners Association, Ecolab, ExxonMobil Chemical, FedEx, Gannett Fleming, Hexion, IPIECA, Merck, Plastics Industry Association, P&G, Perdue Farms, Schlumberger, Sealed Air, Smithfield Foods and Smith & Nephew.
For more information about GEMI, membership benefits and upcoming meetings, visit www.gemi.org or email GEMI’s Program Manager Kellen Mahoney at kmahoney@navista.net
About GEMI
GEMI is the global leader in developing insights, networking, and creating collaborative sustainability solutions for business. For 25 years, GEMI has captured the vision and experience of global corporate environmental, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability leaders from diverse business sectors through the development of a wide range of publicly-available, solutions-based tools designed to help companies improve the environment, their operations and add business value.
