UNEP, SustainAbility and the UN Global Compact recently co-published "Unchaining Value: Innovative approaches to sustainable supply" (2008; PDF - 152 KB). This report explores approaches to building capacity at the local supplier level and identify initiatives that encourage consumer demand for more sustainable solutions. Providing case study examples from the food & beverages and ICT sectors, its analysis also considers the challenges facing supply chains in the face of competition for limited natural resources. UNEP DTIE is building on its overview of international commodity initiatives and convening related producer and retail representatives in 2009.

Supply chain issues have taken centre stage in the corporate responsibility debate as more companies make use of outsourcing and the Internet enable pressure groups and consumers to trace practices globally. Globalisation and advances in information and communications technology have enabled greater outsourcing across national borders, often involving companies in developing countries that are not in a position to meet growing demands for more complex certified management systems. Their ability to make use of export opportunities is dependent on their ability to meet the requirements set by foreign multinationals and new management standards.

Common usage of the term "value chain" over recent years has also highlighted greater awareness of the demand-side of the production - consumption cycle and the challenge companies face in meeting new consumer demands (B2C and B2B). The term value chain is today commonly used to refer not only to the internal company dimension, but also the external dimension: both the upstream (supplies) and the downstream (distribution, use, return). It is a concept that covers business models such as product service systems (PSSs), concepts such as the 3R (reduce, re-use, recycle) with its reversed supply chain, as well as issues such as trace-ability and the use of labels to communicate information about ingredients and standards applied.

Against this background, UNEP has launched a new work area in cooperation with SustainAbility under the heading "Unchaining Value". The aim of this new partnership is to:

• Provide an overview and analysis of modernday challenges in global value chain management, in particular new models and approaches to build the capacity of suppliers to cope with issues such as traceability and use of international standards.
  
  
• Highlight emerging good practices in supply chain partnering, displaying cooperation between multinational corporations and their suppliers in emerging market economies to facilitate improved implementation, monitoring and communication of environmentally sound practices and social responsibility with a focus on selected industry sectors.
  
  
• Prepare, with support of the UN Global Compact, an initiative to display and promote good practices and innovations in advancing capacity building & technology support through global value chains.

Our initial research in this field is focussing on the food & beverages and the information & communications technology sectors. After a first workshop convened with company participants in Paris on 31 October 2007, an analytical report with feedback from interviews conducted will be published in late March 2008. Follow up discussions are being prepared for 2008, with an open invitation to interested companies and partner organisations to join "Unchaining Value".

Unchaining Value: Innovative approaches to sustainable supply
PDF - 152 KB

Unchaining Value: Corporate responsibility through the value chain
(PDF - 92 KB)