‘Net Positive’ approach can help towards more secure supply chain

Taking a ‘Net Positive’ approach in business helps an organisation build a more secure supply chain, says a new report from Forum for the Future, The Climate Group and WWF-UK.

The report – Net Positive: A New Way of Doing Business – captures the principles of what it means to take a Net Positive approach and provides a route map to help businesses to engage with the concept. It calls for the ambition of business to change from ‘doing less harm’ to becoming ‘Net Positive’ to have a positive impact on the world.

According to the authors, the benefits of a Net Positive approach are already being felt by businesses, including BT, Capgemini, Coca-Cola Enterprises, The Crown Estate, IKEA Group, Kingfisher and SKF.

Leaders of these businesses came together with the report authors to share their experiences and help define the principles of a Net Positive approach. They concluded that failure to deal adequately with environmental and social issues results in exposure to supply chain risks and missed opportunities.

The principles outlined in the report encourage organisations aspiring to become Net Positive to “make a positive, demonstrable impact in key material areas” and to “show best practice in corporate responsibility and sustainability across the spectrum of social, environmental and economic impact areas”.

A Net Positive organisation should also invest in “innovation in products and services”, “work across the value chain” and “in some cases could challenge the very business models it relies on”. The report is also clear that “no aspect of a Net Positive approach compensates for unacceptable natural losses or ill treatment of individuals or communities”.