Responsible Sourcing
Our success in growing our business while delivering positive social and environmental impacts depends on high-performing suppliers and supply chains. We expect our first-tier suppliers to respect human rights, environmental standards and ethics in their workplaces. Since 2011, we've been engaging our first-tier suppliers around the world in improving their sustainability performance.
We align our suppliers with our social, environmental and ethical expectations through our Supplier Code of Conduct. The Supplier Code of Conduct can be downloaded in multiple languages, and we have refreshed and expanded guidance on how to meet the expectations in our Code in our "Supplier Code of Conduct Guidebook(Opens a new window)."
Our risk assessment process covers risks to people in our own operations, our supply chain, and certain downstream business partners. We use a variety of methods and data sources to assess risk. We use a third-party risk screen that incorporates a variety of data, including indices generated by civil society, UN bodies, the World Bank, universities, and others, as well as data from thousands of social and environmental compliance audits. We work with partners such as Verité to strengthen how we assess human rights risk at the country and regional levels, as well as by material or service.
We support strategic suppliers, as they advance their performance through a longer-term collaboration model focused on driving systemic change and engagement of workers. There are no easy answers to many of the sustainability challenges our suppliers face in their workplaces. Addressing complex issues takes time, investment and concerted effort. Our in-depth collaboration model helps suppliers access third party expert support, on-site engagement, and engage with and hear the voices of workers. This approach is designed to help suppliers drive systemic changes over time. The model is being updated with the input of expert external advisors so that it reflects good practice and industry learnings.
Driving change in supply chains is a journey, and we maintain a spirit of openness and transparency about our progress and challenges as we progress our human rights program. We assess the impact of this work with the goal of understanding the real difference it makes for workers and the planet. It helps us achieve our goal of working with suppliers that share our values and commitments and ceasing work with those who are unable or unwilling to meet our expectations.