The Sustainability Learning Forum

Bringing Sustainable Change to the Garment Supply Chain

Félix Poza Peña
Inditex

The global presence of Inditex gives us a real opportunity to bring positive and lasting change to the garment supply chain in a way that fully aligns with our commitment to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We work with more than 1,700 suppliers and more than 6,000 factories globally, each supplying to one or more of our eight brands, which include Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Bershka. This presence places us close to the heart of communities in numerous different countries. more[...]

The Author

How Does Industry 4.0 Affect Growth and Employment?

With the digitilization and global linking of production – the “fourth Industrial Revolution” – the specter of unemployment in the technology sector has entered central stage again. more[...]

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Faster, More Efficient, More Sustainable – The Production Plant of the Future

Dr Peter F. Tropschuh, Audi AG
Audi AG

Digital integration will play a central role in the modern production plant over the next few years: The “factory of the future” – also known as Industry 4.0 or the Smart Factory – not only increases the ability of machines to control processes faster and more efficiently; it also results in greater integration of machinery and humans. more[...]

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Fighting Climate Change

Thales Group
Sandrine Bouttier-Stref, Thales Group

Thales is responding to the major issue of climate change by implementing a strategy of at-source reduction of CO2 emissions, helping to raise awareness of climate-related issues through a number of programs and partnerships, and promoting products and services that support the emission-reduction initiatives of its customers and society at large. more[...]

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“There’s no point in just checking off a list”

Editorial Team

Fairtrade wants to create a new label for textiles. Clothing made from fairly produced cotton is currently available, but further processing only has to comply with core labor guidelines of the International Labour Organization that prohibit violations such as child labor or forced labor. Going forward, the whole production chain will have to comply with fair standards, including conditions for the workers in the factories. more[...] login_required

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Good Practices

Editorial Team

There are three cases of Good Practices regarding CSR in Africa: Cotton Made in Africa, the World Cocoa Foundation and Sustainable Energy Africa. more[...]

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MTU Aero Engines: Award-Winning Technology

Martina Vollmuth, MTU Aero Engines
MTU Aero Engines

In view of increasingly scarce resources, rising fuel prices, and the growth in air traffic – which continues unabated at an average rate of 5 percent per year – passengers, people living in the vicinity of airports, authorities, organizations, and other players in the aviation industry are calling for more fuel-thrifty and cleaner aircraft and engines. MTU Aero Engines has been working on innovative technologies for decades to further improve the environmental compatibility of future engines. more[...]

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Pre Organic Cotton Program: A Shift To Organic Farming

Itochu

In September 2012, more than 150 delegates from corporations, international organizations, governments, and NGOs around the world gathered at Business, The MDGs and Beyond – a forum run as a side event to the UN General Assembly in New York. ITOCHU Corporation represented the Japanese corporations that are members of the UNDP-led Business Call to Action (BCtA) and spearheaded a panel at the first session, “Innovative Business Models for Sustainable Development.” At the forum, ITOCHU presented the Pre-Organic Cotton Program, an initiative of its Textile Company, which contributes to overall development in the cotton farming communities in India through poverty reduction and improvements in farmers’ health and the farming environment. more[...]

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Making a sustainable business of sustainability

Hanne Jørgensen, Grundfos
Grundfos

Pump manufacturer Grundfos has faced up to its role in industrial energy overconsumption and the CO2 emissions that produces. The company’s response has been to rehabilitate its products from being energy offenders to a genuine part of the solution. In the spirit of the Global Compact, Grundfos has also taken an active role in advocating the role of business in promoting greater environmental responsibility and developing environmentally friendly technologies more[...]

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Horsing around with our food

Prof. Dirk Matten, Hewlett-Packard

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The Private Sector Solutions (Interview Film With Claus Stig Pedersen)

Lisbet Bræmer-Jensen, Grundfos & ‘Act NOW‘

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Cotton Initiatives Form a New Partnership to Bring Greater Sustainability to Smallholder Farmers

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) and its Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative and the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), have signed an interim partnership agreement that should see increased effectiveness and efficiency in promoting greater sustainability to African smallholder farmers as well as delivering sustainable solutions for the textile and fashion industry in Europe and North America. more[...] login_required

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Social Responsibility Networks in the Banana Industry

Prof. Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Universidad EAFIT

There is evidence that in the last two decades, international civil society has played a dynamic role in improving environmental and working conditions in regions such as Latin America. Such improvements have occurred side by side with indications that trade liberalization and the decline of the state’s regulatory role since the 1980s and the advent of globalization in the 1990s has exacerbated inequalities, social exclusion, and triggered environmental degradation. more[...] login_required

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Mining companies committed to UN Human Rights principles, new survey reveals

Mazars

New research released today indicates that listed mining and resources companies across the world are keen to comply with the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which were officially adopted one year ago, but must keep up the momentum in order to maintain public confidence in their efforts. more[...] login_required

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“We’re not just chasing windmills.”

Editorial Team

SKF technical development focuses not only on wind turbines as tomorrow’s clean energy source, but also on helping the traditional power generation industries reduce their impacts on the environment. It’s a balanced approach enabling new low-carbon technologies to develop while providing energy-saving processes, parts, and services to help today’s plants and equipment become more efficient. An interview with SKF CEO, Tom Johnstone. more[...] login_required

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