 "Panel discussion for CEOs at Together for Sustainability (TfS) summit")
Together for Sustainability (TfS), a joint initiative of leading global chemical companies, has been formally launched in the country to encourage the Indian suppliers to adopt sustainability practices in their management and manufacturing systems.
As part of this exercise, a Together for Sustainability (TfS) summit was held in Mumbai on September 20, 2016 to build awareness about the importance of creating a sustainable supply chain among Indian chemical suppliers & manufacturers. Over 500 representatives from suppliers and TfS member companies as well as local and international associations, international audit companies and experts attended the summit.
The Indian chemical industry, which is rated sixth in the world and third in Asia in value added terms at constant prices, is one of the important link in the global chemical supply chain. “India is at the cusp of becoming the manufacturing hub for the world with government support and initiatives like Make in India. Business activities of all organisations are thus becoming more global and supply chains more complex. Considering the important role played by chemical industry across sectors including automobile, pharmaceuticals, textiles and even manufacturing, aligning with sustainability will help the sector to drive innovation as well as their growth engine. It is here that the TfS initiative leads by example in corporate responsibility through creating benchmarks for sustainable supply chains,” said TfS in a press statement.
Since its initiation, the sustainability performance of 4,600 suppliers has been rated within the TfS initiative based on EcoVadis assessments and 446 TfS audits have been conducted globally. The initiative plans to establish benchmarks in the supply chain that can cover all the pillars of sustainability and grant relevant long-term gains both - to the companies and to their suppliers. In 2015, a total of 2,580 sustainability assessments have been shared among TfS Members and 179 new TfS audit reports were received by the TfS initiative. In India, 300 suppliers have been assessed through EcoVadis and audits at 28 sites have been concluded already.
Established in 2011, TfS has grown its membership thrice in the last five years and has commitment from 19 leading chemical companies including AkzoNobel, Arkema, BASF, Bayer, Brenntag, Clariant, Covestro, DuPont, DSM, Eastman, Evonik, IFF, Henkel, Lanxess, Merck, Sanofi, Solvay, Syngenta and Wacker. The initiative is based on good practices and builds on established principles - such as the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and the Responsible Care Global Charter as well as standards developed by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Social Accountability International (SAI) and others.
