World Trade - July 2008 - (Page 24)

A ccording to recent U.S. Census Bureau data, world population has been expanding at an astounding rate; reaching one billion in 1800, over six billion in 2000, and expected to swell to over nine billion by 2050. As a result, people in 2050 are expected to have only 25 percent of the resources per capita than they did in 1950. Given this projection, countries are developing stricter environmental programs, corporations are re-tooling their supply chains to reduce waste and environmental impact, and consumers around the globe are modifying their lifestyles and buying habits to do their part in protecting the environment and preserving the earth’s finite natural resources. These macro forces are driving companies to evaluate their supply chains for environmental inefficiencies, but also to ensure that their supply chains are flexible and compliant, allowing them to capitalize on opportunities in this emerging industry. The New Stewards of Environmental Responsibility A growing number of companies around the world, at the behest of their clients, environmental advocacy groups and state and local governments, are adopting environmentally safe practices and becoming stewards of corporate responsibility. Financial services providers JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Morgan Stanley formed The Carbon Principles—climate change guidelines for lenders and advisors to U.S. power companies. The Principles are an effort by the financial services industry to evaluate and address the carbon risks in the financing of electric power projects. As part of its Corporate Responsibility report, JPMorgan Chase will focus on reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent in four years and, beginning in 2008, will also offset the emissions of all employee air travel.1 Technology giant Sun Microsystems aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2012 through a range of practices, from allowing its 34,400 employees to work from home, to using cooler, energy-saving technology in its computer chips.2 Outdoor recreation retailer REI launched a commercial-scale composting initiative for food waste in its headquarters café in Washington, helping it achieve its goal of becoming a zero waste-to-landfill business by 2020.3 Consumers Lead Global Demand for Green Products Corporations are quickly realizing that beyond their inherent duty to be model environmental corporate citizens, being ‘green’ is becoming increasingly important to their customer base. According to a new survey, half of U.S. consumers consider at least one sustainability factor in selecting consumer packaged goods (CPG) products and choosing where to shop for them.4 From this heightened consumer awareness, a rapidly growing green movement has emerged, creating both opportunities and challenges for companies active in this space. While expanding internationally to tap into the increasing global demand for ‘green’ products, companies can face many financial and credit challenges as their supply chains become more elastic.

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World Trade - July 2008 Contents Inside World Trade Logistics Service Provider Report Card 3rd Annnual Buyer's Guide to Logistics Suppliers and Services Supply Chain Partners Letter From the Publisher

World Trade - July 2008

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