SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Major global companies on Thursday joined a new corporate leadership platform at the ongoing Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco in order to improve the ability to monitor and diagnose climate risk throughout supply chains.
The 2018 Global Climate Action Summit scheduled from Wednesday to Friday features more than 25 sessions, 325 affiliate events and 500 major climate commitments, aims at enhancing cooperation in tackling climate change at various levels globally.
The Coca-Cola Company and Mars Incorporated are among the first multinational corporations to join the platform, which is named the Climate-Resilient Value Chains Leaders Platform and launched by BSR.
"Supply chains, the engines of global growth, are broken," said Barry Parkin, chief sustainability and procurement officer at Mars Incorporated.
"To fix them, we must shift to long-term models for corporate buying that are anchored on building mutuality, reliability, resilience, and risk management into the core of our buying patterns," he added.
New data from the platform will accelerate the adoption and implementation of climate resilience measures. These new measures will benefit communities throughout the value chain while safeguarding business viability.
"We believe working with other businesses will help us build a resilient supply chain and improve living conditions in vulnerable communities," said Ben Jordan, senior director of environmental policy of the Coca-Cola Company.
Participating companies have committed to develop shared tools and methods that help them prioritize climate resilience in corporate value chains. This includes efforts to investigate physical climate risks in their supply chains and explore how to build climate resilience through a science-based approach.
"Fortifying supply chains is one of the best ways that companies can act to mitigate climate change-related impacts," said David Wei, climate director at BSR.
BSR is a nonprofit organization that develops sustainable business strategies and solutions through consulting, research, and cross-sector collaboration.
