Kuhn Associates Sustainability Advisors LLC
Sustainable Business News 
 
Volume 2013, Number 7                                                                                         December 2013   
In This Issue
Ideas You Can Use NOW
Calendar of Events
About Us
We help companies throughout the product supply chain create sustainable businesses.

Our consulting services include creating enterprise-level sustainability visions, goals and strategies; re-engineering internal processes to reflect sustainable best practices; maximizing the sustainability of today's complex supply chains and assisting with communicating sustainability information in writing and in media.

Our training services include webinars and in-person seminars for large to small groups on topics ranging from GHG accounting to Mastering Supply Chain Sustainability and Social Responsibility. We can custom design training to suit your needs.

 

We work in a variety of industries. We are extremely sensitive to clients' budgets and their capacity for change.
 
Whether it's an environmental or social responsibility issue, our team of professionals is ready to help your business. Please contact us to learn how we can help you.
 
Call 212-343-1006 today.


In this final newsletter edition of 2013, our Feature Article discusses what can be expected in the area of sustainable business in 2014.

In our Ideas You Can Use Now section, we provide some tips about how to prepare your business for the year ahead.

   

Finally, in the Calendar section, we suggest some sustainability-related events in the coming month or two that you might want to investigate.

 

Happy reading and Happy Holidays!    

 

P.S. Keep up with us on:


Twitter:

www.twitter.com/RobertWKuhn  

Website:

www.kuhnassociatesllc.com      

 

Join our Google+ Sustainable Procurement community:

 https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104316087778115933988 

 

Feature Article: What to Expect in 2014
 

As an eventful 2013 winds down, we close the year frustrated by the glacial pace of change in sustainable business overall, thankful for the work of the leaders and optimistic that the work they are doing is laying the foundation for significant changes and benefits in the near- and medium-term. 

 

So what do we expect will happen in sustainable business in 2014? Crystal balls are rarely perfect, but here's an educated guess as to what the new year will bring:

  • More sustainability standards deployed, while ratings reined in. There will be several new standards published in 2014 and some existing standards will get polished. The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (www.sasb.org) will release standards in the financial, technology + communications, non-renewable resources and transportation sectors. In sustainable procurement arena, the recently-formed Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (www.purchasingcouncil.org) will have a pilot-ready version of its standard/rating, while ISO's Technical Committee 277 continues its standards development work. And organizations will begin using the Global Reporting Initiative's new-ish G4 Guidelines (www.globalreporting.org). And there are even more sustainability ratings than there are standards. So many ratings exist, in fact, that CERES has launched an initiative to establish a standard for ratings (www.ratesustainability.org).
  • A shift in emphasis at the EPA. Newly-appointed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy will probably follow Lisa Jackson's lead, but a bit of a shift in emphasis is likely in order. Especially relevant to business are actions on climate change, chemicals and water. All of these areas get more-targeted enforcement in 2014, so some industries will see more action and some will see less. A couple of weeks ago, the White House's Office of Management and Budget released a document outlining the EPA's 2014 program priorities:  http://goo.gl/3l3ePT.  
  • U.S. states getting in on the act. California leads the way, with cap-and-trade, the Supply Chain Transparency Act and the 2013 chemicals-focused Safer Consumer Products regulations (see http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/scp/index.cfm). But other states are flexing their muscles as well, particularly where the federal government hasn't acted. For example, many states are considering toxic substances legislation in light of the failure of the U.S. Chemical Safety Improvement Act.
  • Continued scrutiny of social impacts in the supply chain. If 2013 was the year of the factory disaster, 2014 might well be the year of the worker. Pressure continues on companies to address worker safety, labor rights and social and economic justice issues in their supply base. To date, stakeholders haven't seen much evidence of improvement and many companies are likewise frustrated that the tools at their disposal aren't sufficient to cure ills. But transparency tools such as LaborVoices (www.laborvoices.com) give factory workers the ability to air grievances in a way that brands can notice and respond to. Look for this and other transparency-enabling tools. 
  • Further development of the sustainability brand value narrative. Businesses worldwide are still in the process of understanding how sustainability relates to their particular brand. Which consumers prefer "green?" How does a company's sustainability profile impact its ability to recruit? In the B2B space, is the relationship between sustainability and brand only as strong as your customer's supplier code of conduct or is there more to it?  

These developments, and others, will push sustainability leaders to develop rigorous risk management capacity around sustainability and simultaneously seize market opportunities based on sustainable practices and products. (If you need a clarion call to do more work on the "opportunity" side of things, then read Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart's The Upcycle.)  However, the sophistication of these leaders isn't matched by most of the rest of business and for those companies much of 2014 will be devoted to the foundational work of sustainability.  

>> Get in touch if you'd like more details; I would be happy to share more insights. Call me at 212-343-1006 or email me at [email protected].

 


Ideas You Can Use Now!

As we mentioned in the Feature Article, while we don't expect earth-shattering developments in sustainability in 2014, the landscape will continue to shift in this dynamic field. So here are a few ideas about what you can do to prepare your business for the year ahead:

  • Get a handle on applicable standards and regulations - we recommend putting together a cross-functional team (e.g., procurement, manufacturing, marketing) to discuss your existing understanding of current regulations and develop a strategy for identifying new regulations that may apply to your company. Who is responsible? What external and internal resources do you need/are available (e.g., industry initiatives like the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, www.eicc.info )? How quickly can you act when discovering a new law or regulation? What geography do you need to cover? What's your budget for sustainability-regulation compliance
  • Develop a social impacts protocol, if you don't already have one- if your supply chain extends overseas, it's especially important to have a system to identify and mitigate human rights and labor rights abuses in your supply chain. What procedures and resources do you have to do this? How are you disclosing your efforts? Do these procedures comply with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (www.state.gov/documents/organization/164934.pdf ), ISO2600 (www.iso.org ) or other laws and standards that might apply?
  • Think about opportunities/requirements to report on sustainability and build your brand- increasingly, stakeholders of all kinds want to know what your company is doing. Good reporting requires data, supply chain transparency and a good, honest narrative. And thinking about what you want your story to say helps you frame your work. 2014 will be a good year to further advance your reporting capabilities or, if you're new to reporting, get started. Check out the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 Guidelines for a well-respected framework (www.globalreporting.org ).   
>>If you have questions or comments on these or other "best practices" in sustainability, please contact us. We have the ability to craft solutions for you. Contact us now by calling 212-343-1006 or emailing us at [email protected].
Calendar of Events
 
Here are a few of the many interesting sustainability events happening in the coming months that we think are worthy of your attention.

January 29 - 30, Berlin, Germany - E.N.G.'s 2nd annual Sustainable Development in the Food and Beverage Industry Summit will focus on specific sustainability issues, strategies and initiatives within the industry. The program will touch upon the practical management aspects of sustainability including reducing environmental impact, food waste, reporting and communication. It will also address how sustainability is now core to business operations, product development and growth. For more information visit http://www.engspain.com/upcoming_events/317/.  

  

February 5 - 6, New York, NY - AGRION Disrupt 100+: Innovation in Energy and Sustainability will assemble 100+ leading innovators and 600 managers of large companies to discuss and explore market transformations, new trends, and provide opportunities for everyone to connect and explore synergies and future collaboration opportunities. For more details and to register, visit http://www.agrion.org/new-york2014/.  

 

February 18 - 20, Phoenix, AZ - GreenBiz Forum Phoenix 2014 will define the trends, challenges and opportunities in sustainable business today. For more information and to register, go to http://www.greenbiz.com/events/greenbiz-forum/2014/02/arizona.

 

February 28, London, UK - 2degrees Live: Engaging Stakeholders on Sustainable Business will help you understand how to best achieve and maintain long-term success, whether you need to get buy-in from your supply chain, employees, board or customers - and no matter what you need to engage them on. For more information visit http://www.2degreeslive.com/events/engaging-stakeholders-on-sustainable-business

Thanks for reading! Please contact us today to discuss anything you've read here, suggest a topic for a future Newsletter edition or learn how we can help you build a more sustainable business.

Call 212-343-1006 or email us at
[email protected] for more information.

Sincerely, 

Robert W. Kuhn, Senior Advisor
Kuhn Associates Sustainability Advisors LLC
www.kuhnassociatesllc.com
Copyright 2013  Kuhn Associates Sustainability Advisors LLC
Reproduction without prior permission prohibited.