GEMI holds Fall membership meeting in Charlotte

Washington, DC – The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), a global leader in developing insights, networking and creating collaborative sustainability solutions for business, held its Fall Membership meeting in Charlotte, NC on November 9-10, 2017. The meeting was hosted by GEMI member Gannett Fleming at the Microsoft Technology Center in Charlotte.

The meeting brought together industry groups, 3rd party providers and corporate leaders to discuss principles and approaches for addressing sustainability across the supply chain, measuring and managing supply chain emissions, and working across the supply chain to advance a circular economy. Speakers included representatives from Ecodesk, EcoVadis, Gannett Fleming, Institute for the Future, Maersk Line, MBJ Strategies, NASCAR, Quantis, Sealed Air, Smithfield Foods, Trucost, Wake Forest, Waste Management and World Resources Institue.

Supply Chain Sustainability

Mary Beth Jordan, MBJ Strategies LLC, provided an overview of research conducted through the GEMI Supply Chain Sustainability (SCS) project in 2017, including a GEMI SCS Solutions Map, Case Studies and Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles. She then facilitated discussion on the next phase of work for GEMI’s Supply Chain Sustainability Work Group, including a targeted effort to engage and understand expectations of key buyers who are driving supplier sustainability programs. Next, Peter Rau, EcoVadis presented the results of the Global CSR Risk & Performance Index 2017, followed by a discussion of opportunities to promote engagement, continuous improvement and innovation across the supply chain from James Burke, Ecodesk.

Measuring / Managing Emissions 

Catherine Kummer, NASCAR, shared information on the NASCAR Green program, and discussed the approach the organization is taking to engage its employees, fans, and partners to reduce the sport’s environmental impact. Karl Hausker, WRI, then shared information on two recent reports on decarbonization pathways for the United States, and noted key issues/opportunities for industry to consider.

Brian Werner, Trucost, spoke to trends and gaps related to increasing expectations for corporate ESG disclosure and highlighted risks companies should be considering related to carbon pricing schemes.  Michele Zollinger, Quantis, shared approaches for accounting for emissions in the supply chain and discussed the use of lifecycle assessment in measuring and managing supply chain risks.  Finally, Lee Kindberg, Maersk Line, discussed opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of supply chain transportation and shared various methods to account for transportation impacts.

Zero Waste Economy 

Ron Cotterman, Sealed Air,  discussed various approaches to zero waste and shared examples of Sealed Air’s zero waste strategy related to its operations, products and value chain, with a particular emphasis on source reduction.  Susan Robinson, Waste Management, then introduced the concept of sustainable materials management and discussed the benefits of using a lifecycle based approach to reduce environmental impacts across the value chain.

The meeting also included a discussion with Stan Meiburg, Wake Forest regarding what industry is looking for in future environmental / sustainability employees and issues that academics should consider as they develop new sustainability curricula.  The meeting closed with a discussion from Bob Johansen, Institute for the Future on the opportunity for GEMI to explore what sustainability issues are most likely to disrupt the current business environment over the next decade through an update to the GEMI / IFTF Map of Future Forces Affecting Sustainability.

For more information about GEMI, membership and upcoming meetings, visit www.gemi.org or email GEMI’s Program Manager Kellen Mahoney at kmahoney@navista.net

About GEMI

GEMI is a 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.

GEMI Publishes Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles

GEMI Publishes Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles
Principles are intended to outline foundational elements that business leaders across industries believe to be essential when engaging suppliers on sustainability.

Washington, DC – The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), a global leader in developing insights, networking and creating collaborative sustainability solutions for business, today published its GEMI Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles. The principles are intended to outline foundational elements that business leaders across industries believe to be essential when engaging suppliers on sustainability.

“GEMI hopes that these Principles may provide a framework to help companies and industry stakeholder groups to guide the process for engaging suppliers regarding sustainability, advance strategic collaborations and, promote increased alignment across industry-focused supply chain sustainability initiatives” said Bill Gill, AVP Environmental Affairs, Smithfield Food and GEMI’s Chair.

Through GEMI’s SCS Work Group, GEMI sought input from a group of large multi-national corporations, 3rd party providers and industry associations to inform GEMI’s development of the Principles. This work included a June 2017 GEMI Workshop where representatives from a variety of organizations including the American Chemistry Council, CDP, Ecodesk, EcoVadis, Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance, Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative, Plastics Industry Association, Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council, The Sustainability Consortium, Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production and others shared information on principles guiding their respective supply chain sustainability efforts and explored commonalities across industries.

“GEMI evaluated principles established by various industry sectors and 3rd party organizations, and facilitated engagement with many such organizations to inform our development of these Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles. As we continue to see a proliferation of new and different expectations for supplier sustainability performance, GEMI believes there is a real opportunity to promote further coordination across efforts while focusing on tangible results that drive long-term business value” said Steve Hellem, Executive Director, GEMI.

GEMI’s Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles follow the recent release of a GEMI Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions Map, along with a series of case studies examining why and how companies are utilizing certain supply chain sustainability solutions.

GEMI believes there is strong potential to increase coordination across industry efforts while further enhancing engagement, performance and business value through the supply chain, and will continue to facilitate cross-industry dialogue and action to address these opportunities through GEMI’s SCS Work Group going forward. Please contact Kellen Mahoney if you’d like to learn more about participation in GEMI’s SCS Work Group.

Special thanks to 2017 GEMI member companies and Supply Chain Sustainability project participants for their leadership and engagement in this effort, 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. Special thanks also to Mary Beth Jordan, MBJ Strategies for her work in supporting this effort.

The GEMI Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles may be downloaded at: https://gemi.org/gemi-responsible-supply-chain-guiding-principles/

About GEMI 
GEMI (www.gemi.org) is a 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

GEMI Publishes Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions Map and Case Studies

GEMI Publishes Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions Map and Case Studies
Examining selected industry-focused supply chain sustainability harmonization solutions, with a focus on their data collection efforts.

Washington, DC – The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), a global leader in developing insights, networking and creating collaborative sustainability solutions for business, today published a GEMI Supply Chain Sustainability Solutions Map, along with a series of case studies on supply chain sustainability solutions.

“Corporate sustainability leaders face challenges related to the wide variety of expectations for addressing supply chain sustainability. Many are seeking ways to better understand the sustainability performance of companies within their supply chain while responding to similar requests from their own customers. While the objectives of such efforts are often similar, the format and content are typically quite different. To address these concerns, GEMI has worked to build a cross-industry coalition – GEMI’s Supply Chain Sustainability (SCS) Work Group – to drive alignment on global supply chain sustainability solutions while meeting common cross-industry goals” said Bill Gill, AVP Environmental Affairs, Smithfield Foods and GEMI’s Chair.

GEMI’s SCS Solutions Map was designed by GEMI’s SCS Work Group as a high-level map depicting a selection of industry-specific SCS harmonization efforts to illustrate the breadth of activities to be addressed, many of which overlap. Information on the Map was informed by internal GEMI research as well as dialogue and engagement with a range of external organizations. The map is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all available solutions nor a guide for selecting a particular solution, but rather it is intended to promote dialogue around potential convergence/mutual recognition across efforts.

Accompanying the Map are four case studies related to Ecodesk, EcoVadis, Responsible Business Alliance and Sedex. These case studies provide an example of how companies are utilizing specific SCS solutions to impact business decision-making, as well as the extent to which these solutions have reduced fatigue related to data collection and reporting for both buyers and suppliers.

“GEMI believes there is strong potential to enhance coordination across efforts and further increase focus on the data that drives action while reducing the burden to both buyer and supplier across industries, and will continue to facilitate cross-industry dialogue and action to address this opportunity through GEMI’s SCS Work Group going forward” said Bill Gill, AVP Environmental Affairs, Smithfield Foods and GEMI’s Chair.

Please contact Kellen Mahoney if you’d like to learn more about participation in GEMI’s SCS Work Group.

Special thanks to 2017 GEMI member companies and Supply Chain Sustainability project participants for their leadership and engagement in this effort, 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. Special thanks also to Mary Beth Jordan, MBJ Strategies for her work in supporting this effort.

About GEMI 
GEMI (www.gemi.org) is a 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

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.