The Walmart Sustainability Principles

On July 16, 2009, Walmart made an announcement to a gathering of its associates and suppliers that may prove to be one of the most significant that the company has ever made. Indeed, the initiative will likely become a milestone in the battle against carbon-induced climate change within our environment.

While the company maintained that they were not incorporating any earth shattering initiatives, statements or directives within their announcement, the fact that a company of this size and magnitude is involved will, in itself, be highly significant.

In Walmart's assessment, a sustainable product index is necessary because of the world's burgeoning population, the depletion of natural resources and the consumer demand for greater efficiency.

Walmart sustainability plans involve a pointed questionnaire, a research driven consortium and a comprehensive disclosure. While the three step plan may take some years to initiate, it represents a significant change for the better and the likelihood of a consumer driven push for efficiency amidst a reversal in climate change.

Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

The Walmart sustainability drive is so impressive because the company, the largest retailer in the world, has 100,000 suppliers globally. Between them, these suppliers represent a considerable proportion of the consumable products consumed in any one-year period and if a global initiative such as this can bring significant changes, then it is likely to lead to additional initiatives and a knock on effect throughout.

Walmart considers the following questions to be particularly appropriate and has asked the top-tier suppliers in the United States to reply in short order:

• Have you measured your corporate greenhouse gas emissions?
• Have you opted to report your greenhouse gas emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project?
• What is your total annual greenhouse gas emission reported in the most recent year measured?
• Have you set publicly available greenhouse gas reduction targets? If yes, what are those targets?
• If measured, please report the total amount of solid waste generated from the facilities that produce your product for Walmart for the most recent year measured.
• Have you set publicly available solid waste reduction targets? If yes, what are the targets?
• If measured, please report the water used in facilities that produce your product for Walmart for the most recent year measured.
• Have you set publicly available water use reduction targets? If yes what targets?
• Have you established publicly available sustainability purchasing guidance for your direct suppliers or addressed issues such as environmental compliance, employment practices and product/ingredient safety?
• Have you obtained third-party certifications for any of the products you sell to Walmart?
• Do you know the location of 100% of facilities that produce your products?
• Before beginning a business relationship with a manufacturing facility, do you evaluate the quality of, and capacity for, production?
• Do you have a process for managing social compliance at the manufacturing level?
• Do you work with your supply base to resolve issues found during social compliance evaluations and also document specific corrections and improvements?
• Do you invest in community development activities in the markets you source from and/or operate within?

It seems that Walmart sustainability officers will request that replies be sent to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which is a very well established and highly regarded information portal.

A majority of major companies around the world already report to the Project and this information will be sure to add to the usable and reliable information available.

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Verisae helps measure, manage and reduce equipment and energy costs including the related business and environmental impacts of carbon emissions. The Sustainability Resource Planning (“SRP”) software platform improves operational efficiency, protects brand integrity and helps ensure regulatory compliance for distributed enterprises across many industries. Verisae delivers a broad range of sustainability solutions to dozens of clients globally with thousands of daily users including an extended network of third-party suppliers. Verisae’s integrated sustainability platform actively tracks millions of assets across thousands of sites worldwide.

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