Toward Rio: New E-Learning Tool Guides Companies on Supply Chain Sustainability
(3BL Media) New York - June 13, 2012 - Today the UN Global Compact, in collaboration with BSR and Maplecroft, launched the UN Global Compact Quick Self-Assessment and Learning Tool, an online platform developed to help companies evaluate their approach to supply chain sustainability and identify areas for improvement.
The tool enables procurement, sourcing and other managers, to quickly and anonymously gauge their company’s supply chain sustainability strategy against suggested global guidance. Key features of the tool are that it both identifies existing areas of strength and sign-posts opportunities for improvement.
The tool will also benchmark a company’s approach against criteria developed by the United Nations Global Compact Advisory Group on Supply Chain Sustainability, and against peer companies according to sector, size and region. Benchmark data will be available by the end of 2012 for users to compare their company’s scores to peer companies, with the ability to filter data by sector, region and size. Additional learning resources and partner organisations are identified to help managers mitigate and manage country, issue, sector and supplier risks.
The scale, scope and severity of global economic, political, social and environmental challenges is making supply chain sustainability a topic of growing importance to business, governments and civil society; but effective and responsible supply chain management requires a coordinated response from all sectors of society.
While companies play a critical role in managing the social, environmental and economic impacts of their supply chains, it is not always clear how such actions should be implemented. The Quick Self-Assessment and Learning Tool is designed to help determine the appropriate scope of corporate supply chain sustainability programmes, and to demonstrate how companies can develop and improve existing policies and practices.
The Quick Self-Assessment and Learning Tool will be officially introduced at The Sustainable Supply Chain – Scaling-up the Impacts of Sustainability Practice session at the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, 16 June at 2:00 p.m. Companies are encouraged to use the tool to assess their approach and build more complete benchmarking data.
- Visit the Quick Self-Assessment and Learning Tool
- Learn more about Supply Chain Sustainability
About the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum:
Innovation and Collaboration for the Future We Want
Hosted by the UN Global Compact, in cooperation with the Rio+20 Secretariat, the UN System and the Global Compact Local Network Brazil, the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum (15-18 June 2012) seeks to bring greater scale and quality to corporate sustainability practices, as a critical contribution to sustainable development. As a showcase for innovation and collaboration, the Forum is designed to be a launching ground for widespread action. With more than 2,000 participants in attendance, the Forum features over 100 sessions focused on six themes central to the Rio+20 agenda: Energy & Climate, Water & Ecosystems, Agriculture & Food, Social Development, Urbanization & Cities, and Economics & Finance. www.compact4rio.org
About the UN Global Compact
Launched in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a both a policy platform and a practical framework for companies that are committed to sustainability and responsible business practices. As a multi-stakeholder leadership initiative, it seeks to align business operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals. With 7,000 corporate signatories in 135 countries, it is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. www.unglobalcompact.org
