Here’s an excellent example of how companies and Western institutions can make a difference on the ground in China and elsewhere when it comes to the environment, or any other issue where help is needed.
Read the article and think to yourself: Is my company’s money best spent in non-strategic philanthropy and volunteering (Let’s face it, most activities in those areas aren’t terribly strategic), or on something like this, which really can make a substantive difference towards business goals in the supply chain?
I’m not saying philanthropy and volunteering don’t matter in these cash-strapped times.
They do. The question is, why don’t you do both?
At least one of them has a real, measurable outcome: Reducing pollution in your supply chain.
That should give you, as a practitioner, access to budgets outside the usual paltry CR spend allocation.
I'm Tobias Webb, founder of Innovation Forum and Sustainable Wine. I write on this blog, with others, about areas of interest to me in supply chains, circular economy and sustainability in general. I hope you find it useful. I've worked in sustainability for about 20 years, and work with large companies, NGOs and governments all over the world. I often act as facilitator, at our conferences, and other meetings, either private or multi-stakeholder. I also work as a 'critical friend' advisor to companies on strategy and stakeholder engagement. I have a separate wine website on sustainability in wine at 
