Retailers explore evolving responsible sourcing landscape

By [ Erin Hiatt , Moni Adeyi ]
11/15/2023

On October 24, RILA’s Responsible Sourcing Committee held an in-person meeting in New York City hosted by Macy’s, Inc. Thirty-five RILA Responsible Sourcing Committee members participated in the opportunity to benchmark and identify collaboration opportunities, to shape the rapidly evolving responsible sourcing landscape. The committee meeting covered a wide range of topics, including The Role of Worker Voice, Scope 3 Emissions, Investor Responsible Sourcing Priorities, as well as open benchmarking and next steps.

The following are some agenda highlights:

the role of worker voice in supplier due diligence
This session began with LRQA sharing important developments regarding the role of worker voice in retail responsible sourcing programs. As many NGOs have done for years, some regulators are placing increasing emphasis on worker voice as a critical element in supplier due diligence. LRQA spoke about how this trend suggests that companies may want to consider integrating worker voice into their standard due diligence model. LRQA delved into these themes and offered a directional outlook for companies, including sharing several case studies of what worker voice programs they have supported look like in practice and how to facilitate appropriate collaboration.

understanding and reducing scope 3 category 1 emissions: the impact of america’s favorite products on the environment
In this session, Dayrize outlined the state of retail emissions reporting and reduction relative to public goals and a rapidly expanding disclosure landscape. Dayrize then provided case studies of the climate and environmental impact of a few of America’s top selling products through the lens of their technology, exploring the Sustainability impacts and tradeoffs of various hypothetical packaging and ingredient swaps. Attendees learned how a combination of technology and insight can guide them, their suppliers, and manufacturers in tackling Scope 3, Category 1 emissions measurement and reduction, on a path to net zero.

investor responsible sourcing priorities
BlackRock joined to discuss investor and company engagement around responsible sourcing programs and practices. Attendees discussed the nuances of responsible sourcing metrics and programs, as well as leading practices in reporting.

Enhancing the professionalism of social compliance audits
Attendees heard from the Association of Professional Social Compliance Auditors (APSCA) and a RILA retail member representative to develop a deeper understanding of how APSCA is working to increase the value and effectiveness of independent social compliance audits by enhancing the professionalism and credibility of the individuals and organizations performing them.

open discussion topics
The meeting concluded with open benchmarking, as attendees discussed topics such as building a responsible sourcing department from scratch and mapping/traceability/transparency technologies as part of due diligence. Shortly after, members received a curated set of related resources from RILA and speakers, to inform their next steps.

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For more information on responsible sourcing-related topics and RILA’s Responsible Sourcing Committee, contact Erin Hiatt, Vice President, CSR at erin.hiatt@rila.org or Moni Adeyi, Manager, CSR & Supply Chain at moni.adeyi@rila.org.