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 Message from the
Executive Director
Between our program committee work and our participation in other conferences and events, SPLC staff have been part of some very thought-provoking and productive conversations in the past month. In this newsletter, we are pleased to share with you a sampling of the insights from those conversations.
SPLC staff will be at several more events in October and November. If you will be at any of these meetings, we would love to connect with you in person while there: The Conference Board Sustainability Council I Meeting, AASHE 2014, NMSDC Conference, and USDN's The Role of Cities in Advancing Sustainable Consumption. If you're planning ahead for GreenBiz Forum 15 in February, our media partnership with GreenBiz entitles readers to save up to $290 with this discount code: GBF15SPLC.
Best wishes,
Jason Pearson, Executive Director
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Report-out: Guidance for Leadership v1.0 Development Process
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The Council is currently working with more than 90 volunteers across nine program committees to develop the Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing v1.0, opening for pilot in January 2015. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), the volunteer group overseeing the development of all work associated with the Guidance have had several substantive conversations about some high-level questions:
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Report-back: International Corporate Accountability Roundtable Meeting
Washington, DC
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 SPLC was invited to attend International Corporate Accountability Roundtable's 4th Annual Meeting at The George Washington University on September 11-12. Christina Macken, SPLC's Director of Programs, attended the meeting, which focused on key issues, challenges, and opportunities in the corporate accountability movement – with procurement being identified as a key opportunity. A highlight of the program was the release of ICAR's newest report, Turning a Blind Eye? Respecting Human Rights in Government Purchasing. The report closely examines the ways in which US federal procurement is succeeding and failing to address human rights abuses within contractors' operations and supply chains. The report takes a strategic prioritization approach, identifying five particularly problematic sectors (apparel, agriculture, electronics, mineral extraction and logistical and security support abroad), and then providing detailed advice for how the federal government could leverage different stages of the procurement process to address the human rights abuses in those supply chains. Organizations outside the federal government will find many of the recommendations are readily transferable to their own procurement processes.
Join a webinar about the ICAR report that will be co-hosted by SPLC and the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium on Tuesday, November 18th at 1pm.
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Report-back: EcoProcura Conference
Ghent, Belgium
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 Put on biennially by ICLEI, the EcoProcura Conference attracts several hundred participants to a program focused on sustainable procurement by public agencies in the European Union. Sam Hummel, SPLC's Director of Outreach & Operations, attended to present about SPLC, and had these observations to share:
- Despite the event's "Eco" name, many speakers emphasized the social and economic aspects of sustainable procurement, in light of the EU's fragile economic recovery. This included strategies for directing purchasing in ways that support local/small/disadvantaged employers, that spur research and entrepreneurship, and that support fair trade and international labor standards (so that local businesses aren't undercut by labor abusers). The program included a MeetYourBuyer event in which small sustainability-oriented businesses met one-on-one with purchasers, or gave them small-group presentations.
- The CPO of the City of Ghent, Aline de Tremerie, called for leaders in the EU to implement a more strategic approach to sustainable purchasing. Noting that many procurement organizations can't answer the question, "What are the top three segments in our purchasing that can contribute significantly to the achievement of our sustainability goals?," she called on organizations to analyze, prioritize and action plan (which closely aligns with SPLC's guidance). On the final day of the conference, Ghent's mayor ceremonially signed the Sustainable Procurement Strategy resulted from the city's spend analysis and action planning process.
- There was a lot of buzz about new EU Procurement Directives that have removed significant legal barriers to the use of certifications and standards, life-cycle costing, supply chain disclosure requirements, and pre-commercial procurement. Notably, life-cycle cost has replaced lowest-price as the preferred award method for EU contracts. Additional Directives will soon allow purchasers to exclude suppliers for abuses of environmental, social or labor law, and will require companies with 500+ employees to report on their principal risks for operational sustainability impacts.
- While discussion included EU-specific subjects like the new Directives, a purchaser from North America would have recognized all the problems under discussion as being the same ones faced faced in North America.
- During a plenary, I offered that SPLC believes creating a shared sustainable purchasing program to address shared problems can be a boon to international collaboration and invigorate many existing networks. You can read my comments on The Value of a Shared Sustainable Purchasing Program to Existing Networks.
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Report-back: TSC Member Summit &
PEF World Forum
Berlin, Germany
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 The Sustainability Consortium invited SPLC to attend their Member Summit in Berlin at the beginning of October. The Summit took place in Europe for the first time this year and co-located with the Product Environmental Footprint World Forum. SPLC was interested in both meetings because the guidance TSC and PEF World Forum are both producing for consumer products could be useful to institutional purchasers in cases where consumer and enterprise products crossover (e.g., computers, stationary, etc.). Staying informed about the two group's work will help the Council avoid redundancy and promote alignment. Sam Hummel, SPLC's Director of Outreach & Operations, attended and had these take-aways to share:
- TSC's new CEO, Sheila Bonnini, reported that TSC now has guidance covering the products that make up 60-80% of the impacts in retail. They are working to deliver that guidance to member retailers via a new Member Portal, integration with SAP and forthcoming Product Category Snapshots. The Snapshots will be one-pagers which "tell a product designer/buyer everything they need to know about their product category, in simple business language." TSC's comprehensive guidance is only available to members, but TSC is working towards making the Snapshots publicly available when stakeholders have signed off on final edits.
- Judging by the discussions within the workshops and breaks, retailers' use of TSC's KPI questions in their buying seems to be generating earnest and productive dialogue with suppliers, some of whom are now asking TSC for KPIs to help them engage their own supply networks.
From left to right: SPLC's Sam Hummel, Koen Boone, European Director at The Sustainability Consortium, Michele Galatola, Product Team Leader, Eco-innovation and Circular Economy, European Commission, Director General for the Environment.
 The Product Environmental Footprint program being led by the European Commission is an ambitious effort to solve several problems at once: the proliferation of labels/certifications, "tailor-made" legislation in each EU nation, consumer mistrust, inefficiencies for vendors due to multiple requirements, and unfair/misleading competition. Building on LCA standards, PEFs aim to be the single tool that consumers can rely on for making apples-to-apples product comparisons and, therefore, informed decisions.- It was evident at the Summit that the PEF program has garnered significant momentum thanks to the considerable weight the European Commission has put behind it. Dozens of industries are actively piloting the PEF methodology and developing Category Rules, with several reporting that the rigor of PEF is even greater than they anticipated.
- The PEF pilots will wrap-up in 2016 and will receive a one year peer-review. After that, it is expected the European Commission will begin integrating PEF into EU policy in 2018.
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Job Opening: Administrative Coordinator
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SPLC seeks a full-time Administrative Coordinator to
manage the administrative work of the Council, including committee coordination, community support services, office-related tasks, oversight of our online presence, and general process improvements. The position will be home-based in the DC area.
Position description and application process
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 We'd like to welcome several new members:
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Upcoming Webinar & Member Update Call
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October's Member Update Call
Each month, Council members are invited to join this conference call in which staff provide an update on the Council's activities since the last update call and a look at what's ahead. These calls include opportunities for members to ask questions, get answers and give feedback.
Tuesday, October 21st at 2pm ET
Register for the call
Webinar: Protecting Human Rights in Supply Chains through Procurement
Lessons for the Private and Public Sector from the ICAR Report
SPLC and the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium will co-host this presentation and discussion of the recommendations in the report Turning a Blind Eye? Respecting Human Rights in Government Purchasing? The report's lead author will present. Following that, panelists from multiple sectors and roles in the institutional procurement marketplace will discuss how the report's findings relate to their work.
Tuesday, November 18th at 1pm ET
Register for the webinar
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Save 10% on GreenBiz Forum 15 (up to $290)
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Having presented at GreenBiz Forum the past two years, SPLC appreciates the action-oriented nature of the conversations that take place when GreenBiz convenes 300+ senior business and sustainability professionals for three days of high-wattage stage presentations, workshops and networking opportunities. Framed by GreenBiz's 2015 State of Green Business report, Forum 2015 will give attendees an in-depth look at the key challenges and opportunities facing sustainable business today.
Register Today with our 10% off discount code: GBF15SPLC
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Upcoming & Recent Presentations
Council staff and members are actively promoting the Council and its work to a variety of stakeholders. More information about each of these presentations is available on the Council's website.
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