BRUSSELS (Belgium)/ALEXANDRIA (USA), July 12, 2018 – Drive Sustainability and the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) today announced the release of a new study examining responsible sourcing of materials in the automotive and electronics industries. The report, Material Change, was commissioned by Drive Sustainability and the Responsible Minerals Initiative and completed by The Dragonfly Initiative (TDI).
Worldwide, businesses increasingly seek solutions to shared development problems and are responding to calls from regulatory bodies, investors, consumers and civil society stakeholders to transparently address adverse impacts associated with their supply chains. Material Change is intended as a resource to better understand the potential environmental, social and governance risks associated with the global production of materials commonly used by the automotive and electronics industries.
The report assesses the importance of 37 materials to automotive and electronics industries and evaluates environmental, social and governance risks for those materials at industry levels. The study recognizes that businesses and entire industries working together can catalyse lasting change to improve peoples’ lives and reduce pressures on vulnerable ecosystems in resource-producing countries.
“This study represents the first deliverable of the Raw Materials Observatory for Drive Sustainability’s partners and is setting the basis for our future collaboration to enhance sustainability in our supply chain as we are committed to make our vision a reality,” said Stefan Crets, Executive Director of CSR Europe, the organization that facilitates the work of Drive Sustainability.
“This study is a great starting point to help companies identify and prioritize salient social, environmental and governance risks that apply more specifically to their supply chains. We consider this report as an opportunity to help us further understand raw material supply chains and to strengthen the collective engagement with our stakeholders to drive positive impact,” said Rob Lederer, Executive Director of the Responsible Business Alliance.
Specialist business advisory firm The Dragonfly Initiative completed the research and analysis for the study, which includes profiles for some of the most commonly found materials in the product components of the electronics and automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers.
The Dragonfly Initiative CEO, Assheton Carter observes, “One of the biggest obstacles to setting and implementing strategies for responsible sourcing is accessing reliable and current data and analysis. Material Change kick-starts that process by presenting relevant industry-level information on materials to enable a better contextual understanding of their importance and of the issues associated with their production.”
The results of the study will help inform the action plans of Drive Sustainability and the Responsible Minerals Initiative members as they strive for positive impacts on upstream communities. Furthermore, it forms the basis for further collaboration opportunities between RMI and Drive, in particular in the area of engagement and capacity building in mineral supply chains.
The open-source report is now available to download from the websites of Drive Sustainability, the Responsible Minerals Initiative and The Dragonfly Initiative.
About Drive Sustainability
Drive Sustainability is a partnership of 10 leading automotive companies that work together to improve sustainability in the supply chain. Starting with 2012, its members have assessed over 20,000 suppliers in more than 100 countries and engaged over 1500 suppliers in capacity building initiatives. Over 40 training sessions have been conducted in 10 countries. Drive Sustainability operates under strict anti-trust policies. For more information, visit drivesustainability.org
About Responsible Minerals Initiative
The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI), is an initiative of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). The RMI is a multi-industry initiative with more than 360 member companies. Its members contribute to the development and international uptake of a range of tools and resources, including independent third-party audit programs for smelters, Minerals Reporting Templates, supply chain risk assessment tools, Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry data, and guidance documents on responsible sourcing of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (3TG) and cobalt. The RMI runs regular workshops on responsible sourcing issues and contributes to policy development with civil society organizations and governments. For more information, visit responsiblemineralsinitiative.org.
About The Dragonfly Initiative
The Dragonfly Initiative (TDI) is a full service advisory firm supporting businesses in the raw materials value chain. Our multi-disciplinary team offers a 360° vision of what matters to commercial and not-for-profit enterprises from mine to market. We are sustainable business and risk management experts, with a strong track record in change management, corporate communications, and programme implementation. We work with mining companies large and small, refiners, manufacturers, OEM, jewellers, retailers, and consumer-facing brands worldwide to build and implement corporate strategies that create value through ensuring compliance with prevailing industry standards; identification of new product lines and markets; communications support to capture social responsibility commitments; efficiencies through the application of cloud software geared specifically to our client’s needs; and, a unique focus on managing impact finance and philanthropic funds to invest in projects in mining communities worldwide. For more information, visit thedragonflyinitiative.com
Media Contacts
Alice Pedretti, Senior Project Manager
Drive Sustainability – CSR Europe
ap@csreurope.org
+32 2 541 16 19
Jarrett Bens, Director of Communications
Responsible Business Alliance
jbens@responsiblebusiness.org
+1 571.858.5721
Emma Hague, Project Manager
The Dragonfly Initiative
ehague@tdistrategies.com
+44 7551 979197
