Summary: The World Resources Institute (WRI) is stepping up its work on greening the supply chains of companies both big and small, thanks to a grant from Walmart.

WRI’s Green Supply Chain Initiative will develop and deploy a new set of accounting tools to measure the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of a company’s supply chain and of the products that are sold to customers.  The project also involves creating a web tool that will bring clarity to the various environmental certifications given to products.

The grant funding will also go toward developing a “Green Standards Guide” to help companies navigate through the “green” claims of different environmental certifications or labels.  The guide is designed to provide greater transparency into the eco-label market place. It will help companies decide which eco-labels their organizations will recognize through a standard set of eco-label evaluation criteria.

The grant also enables WRI to improve the environmental performance of suppliers in China by working with the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environment Affairs (IPE). The partnership will allow WRI to develop best-practice case studies for Chinese firms.   These case studies, which can be used as training materials for industry, will highlight the practical and effective solutions adopted by China-based suppliers in resolving common environmental challenges such as water and air pollution.

Source: October 1, 2009 WRI Press Release

More Information: The full press release is at http://www.wri.org/press/2009/10/wri-advances-green-supply-chain-initiative

Contact: Pankaj Bhatia, Director, GHG Protocol Initiative, 202-729-7629, pankaj@wri.org

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