Richard Edwards

Asia’s traditional sourcing hotspots need to take a more proactive approach to the management of climate change – particularly after the change of leadership in the U.S. 
 
Speaking at a sustainability conference in Singapore, Simon Tay, Schwartz Fellow of the Asia Society, warned that failure to do so could result in countries such as Vietnam having policies dictated to them by the world’s most powerful nations.
 
His warning comes in a year that will see industrialised nations attempt to garner support for a wider agreement on climate change that will usurp the Kyoto Protocol, which is expected to be sealed in Copenhagen in December.
 
Mr Tay, who is also the chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, however, believes that Asia is still lagging behind when it comes to climate change.
 
“My impression is that it has become a dialogue between the deaf and the dumb,” said Tay. “When we look at the Kyoto regime it cannot seem to work just because it is limited to only Annex 1 developed countries. “Unless Asia gets its act together and starts changing the game we will be dictated to by the developed countries once America comes on board.”
 
One of the initiatives discussed at the conference was the potential introduction of a global cap-and-trade scheme for carbon emissions based on per-capita pollution, although Tay questioned the viability of such a system.
 
“Asia has been a vast production base for a lot of consumption elsewhere,” he said. “In that equation, who is the polluter?”
 
He also argued that some of Asia’s biggest producers should avoid using climate change as the “great validator” for protectionist measures during the global economic slowdown, citing the possible example of a country with a carbon tax regime for its manufacturers imposing import tariffs on one that had no such regime in place. 

Richard Edwards

As Barack Obama prepares to take up residence at the White House, the country he will be leading is bracing itself for a green revolution.

Back in November, when Mr Obama swept past Senator John McCain to claim arguably the most spectacular election victory in history, one of the President elect’s first-pledges was to bring jobs and energy security to a country enduring one of its most testing periods since the Great Depression.

“We’ll invest $15bn a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new green jobs that pay well, can’t be outsourced and help end our dependence on foreign oil,” he said in the run-up to polling day, even going so far as to call it his “Apollo Project”.

And as Mr Obama dusts himself off for his first day in office, the world looks on, eager to see if his plans for office take off.

“There’s no doubt that the past 12 months has been a fairly disastrous time for the global economy, but in terms of sustainability there has rarely been so much excitement,” Dinah McLeod, head of sustainability practice, BT, told Procurement Leaders. “The credit crunch has driven sustainability to the top of the agenda and politicians are finally stepping up to the plate and bringing forward new legislation that can genuinely make a difference. There’s a growing recognition that sustainability can act as a driver for job creation – which at the current time makes it absolutely essential.”

Just how many of Obama’s new ‘green collar’ jobs are created in the procurement and sourcing sector remains to be seen, but the new man has already made clear his determination to green supply chains both in the U.S. and further afield. He has also signalled his intention to dramatically improve his country’s creaking infrastructure – a move that has been welcomed by struggling domestic businesses.

In addition, he has also outlined plans to streamline U.S. government procurement – in an effort to trim the federal procurement budget by $4.5bn a year – through the use of purchase cards and the implementation of better management practices.

But what will Mr Obama’s green crusade mean for the wider procurement and sourcing community in the US?

“We expect the Obama administration to promote innovation and regulation, which means sourcing professionals will be challenged to find new alternate material sources, while applying design for environment (DfE) principles and understanding various global labelling systems to make more sustainable choices,” Margaret Price, president and chief sustainability officer at Green Supply Chain.org, said.

“They will also need to develop “greener” supplier capabilities beyond the contemporary EMS (environmental management System, ISO 14001) and will need to craft strategies for LCC sourcing that involves sustainability education and training for suppliers in developing nations.”

It’s a daunting yet achievable list, and a path far less intimidating than the one that took Mr Obama from the back streets of Chicago to the highest office in America. 

Of course, whether his green push will offer the kind of fiscal and job stimulus that the moribund U.S. economy so desperately needs only time will tell, but as the 44th president of the United States prepares for his inauguration, the U.S., it seems, is being placed firmly on a more sustainable path – a move that many will argue is long overdue.