Social and environmental standards are increasingly a precondition for suppliers doing business for large companies. An increasing number of companies are also seeking to influence their suppliers' environmental practices.

A common way to integrate corporate responsibility into the supply chain is to set a Supplier Code of conduct with minimum requirements for suppliers. Thousands of companies have adopted such codes of conduct, aiming to do business with suppliers that have sound and responsible ethical, social and environmental practices. These codes usually cover issues such as child labour, forced labour, working hours, health and safety guidelines, discrimination, ethical standards and environmental guidelines.

Environmental guidelines ask suppliers to comply with all applicable environmental laws, regulations and standards such as requirements regarding chemical and waste management and disposal, recycling, industrial wastewater treatment and discharge, air emissions controls, environmental permits and environmental reporting. Some companies demand that their suppliers go beyond local regulations in terms of environmental performance.

Related to our emerging work on global value chains, we are following the emergence of new standards developed by organisations such as the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), including the expansion of the ISO 14000 series and the ISO 26000 process to develop a guidance standard on Social Responsibility (SR). UNEP participates in the ISO 26000 process and also uses this as an opportunity to promote the internalisation of responsible practices within both the private and public sectors. Core among these are the ten principles of the UN Global Compact.

Unchaining Value offers the opportunity to examine the use of standards, codes and guidelines in a partnership and innovative manner. Of special interest are new approaches that allow for integration, harmonisation, and moving beyond simple tick the box, compliance approaches to more collaborative, partnering approaches that enable collective learning, performance innovation, capacity building and technology support.