One of the biggest obstacles to setting and implementing strategies for responsible sourcing is accessing reliable and current data and analysis, according to The Dragonfly Initiative CEO, Assheton Carter.
So his group, which is a service advisory firm supporting businesses in the raw materials value chain, released a study on July 12 to provide the data.
The report, Material Change, which was commissioned by Drive Sustainability, which is a partnership of 10 leading automotive companies that work together to improve sustainability in the supply chain and assessed over 20,000 suppliers in more than 100, presents analyses of materials commonly used in the manufacture of automobiles and electronic products using two sets of criteria that establish a material’s importance to industry, and its associated environmental, social and governance issues.
The report was co-produced by The Responsible Minerals Initiative, formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative is an initiative of the Responsible Business Alliance and is a multi-industry initiative with more than 360 member companies.
“Material Change kick-starts that process by presenting relevant industry-level information on materials to enable a better contextual understanding of their importance and of the issues associated with their production,” explained Carter.
One of the drivers for this type of information is a call from regulatory bodies, investors, consumers and civil society stakeholders to transparently address adverse impacts associated with their supply chains.
The report assesses the importance of 37 materials to the automotive and electronics industries and evaluates environmental, social and governance risks for those materials at industry levels. The study recognizes that businesses and entire industries working together can catalyze lasting change to improve peoples’ lives and reduce pressures on vulnerable ecosystems in resource-producing countries.
“This study represents the first deliverable of the Raw Materials Observatory for Drive Sustainability’s partners and is setting the basis for our future collaboration to enhance sustainability in our supply chain as we are committed to make our vision a reality,” said Stefan Crets, Executive Director of CSR Europe, the organization that facilitates the work of Drive Sustainability.
