value chain stakeholders’ views on sustainability
TRANSCRIPT
Value chain stakeholders’ views on sustainability
Dr Alice Payne
Fashion, Creative Industries & Institute for Future Environments
Queensland University of Technology
What sustainability issues are most important to value chain stakeholders?
Issues and messages
Mapped
sustainability
initiatives to 50
multinational
retailers
Analysis of
the 50
retailers’
CSR reports
Interviews
with 10
retailers
A retailer linking to a
sustainability initiative signals
that the retailer values the aims
and objectives of the initiative
Corporate Social
Responsibility reports
contain the public
sustainability messages of
the brands and retailers
Qualitative interviews
give insight into
future trends
Screenshots: Textile Standards
- Average retailer involved with 5
cotton-specific initiatives
- Only 4 of 50 retailers had no
connection to a cotton initiative
Hundreds of sustainability initiatives
Defining ‘sustainable cotton’
32/50 retailers 6/50 retailersGOTS – 13/50 retailers, OCS -
3/50
5/50 retailers
1/50 retailers3/50 retailers2/50 retailers
3/50 retailers
Pledge not to source
Uzbek or Turkmen cotton -
32/50 retailers2/50 retailers
Fibres discussed in retailer CSR reports, 2014-16
Hierarchy chart, generated in Nvivo 11, showing the relative proportion of mentions of fibres discussed in retailer Corporate Social Responsibility reports, size of square indicating number of coding references
Environmental sustainability issues
=1 Pest/ pesticides
=1 Soil
2. Land use
3. Water
4. Biodiversity
5. Energy/ GHG emissions
6. GMO
7. Waste
Ranking based on the percentage of the total number of environmental
sustainability issues mentioned by the eight cotton-specific initiatives for
each environmental sub-category
Social sustainability issues
1. Labour practices
2. Training
3. Health and safety
4. Community/ social welfare
Image: Lizette Potgieter / Shutterstock.com, Noorullah, 10, and Islamuddin, 7, pick cotton November 4, 2009 in Balkh, northern Afghanistan.
Ranking based upon the percentage of the total
number of social sustainability issues mentioned by
eight cotton initiatives for each social sub-category
Future looking issues
• Shifts in consumer expectations
• Fibre trends
• Demand for traceability
In closing…
Research part of CRDC-funded project “Improving the ability of the Australian cotton industry to
report its sustainability performance”
Project leader – Erin Peterson
Project team – Bronwyn Harch, Susan Fuller, Stuart Parsons, Richi Nayak, Alice Payne, Laurie
Buys, Beverley Henry, Nancy Schellhorn
Value chain research assistant – Zoe Mellick
Thank you to CRDC, Cotton Australia, ACSA, and especial thanks to all our participants
Contact me at [email protected]