New models developed to help urban planners engage business on sustainability.
Addressing the complex problems of the 21st century requires a new solutions toolbox. Innovation will be absolutely essential and business will lead the way – not just in technology, but also in building new models of collaboration that harness leadership and collective problem-solving to drive effective action.
In October 2011, the global population reached seven billion. It is on its way to more than nine billion, and it took only a dozen years to add the last billion.
While the population explodes and economies grow, a significant number of people are becoming increasingly affluent. With money to spend, they simply consume more. More consumption means more demand for energy.
While suppliers and customers can collaboratively strengthen each other’s performance, and successful supply chain greening efforts will create value through environmental know-how and adoption of emerging technologies, true supply chain sustainability and corporate governance must be driven by the originating manufacturers.
These manufacturers rely on deep tiers of suppliers and vendors for their products; the need for increased supply chain collaboration among the world’s largest manufacturers is critical. This is especially evident for large worldwide manufacturers operating subcontracting arrangements in developing nations and “tiger economies”, such as India, Mexico and China (and the rest of Southeast Asia).
Recent events concerning Apple Computers alleged lax supplier oversight and other reported supplier human rights and environmental violations only show a microcosm of the depth of the challenges that suppliers face in managing or influencing their supply chain. Apple recently did the right thing by releasing its Apple Supplier Responsibility 2011 Progress Report, which underscored just how challenging and difficult multi-tiered supply chain management can be.
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