Watch back
Location: Cranfield campus (B122 LR29) or Online (via Zoom)
Our connected world allows us, here in the UK, to buy gems and stones from Thailand, eat fruit grown in Spain and use phones manufactured in China.
In this Sustainability Network Speaker Series panel session, we invite an international buyer, a supplier, and a representative from a trading initiative to discuss whose job is it to make these global supply chains more sustainable?
The typical consumer company’s supply chain creates far greater social and environmental impacts than its own operations, accounting for more than 80 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions and more than 90 percent of the impact on air, land, water, biodiversity, and geological resources (McKinsey & Company)
As society attempts to wrestle with the increasingly pressing social and environmental impacts of our global chains, ethical and environmental failings still regularly hit the headlines. This is an opportunity to learn about some of the complex issues around improving the social and environmental sustainability of supply chains from industry professionals, and an opportunity to ask them how they are working to be effective change agents for good.
Who is it for?
This is an open event to Cranfield University staff and students and business and sustainability enthusiasts alike. This session is for anyone with a curiosity about how to gain more awareness of how to make their own sense of the globally pressing sustainability issues and how to consciously shift good intentions into meaningful actions.
Speakers
Peter McAllister
Executive Director, Ethical Trading Initiative
Peter leads the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), a leading multi-stakeholder initiative working with business, trade unions and NGOs on Human Rights and responsible business. In more than 10 years Peter has ensured that ETI remains at the forefront of thinking and action in supporting effective business solutions in global supply chains, working with high street brands and retailers through suppliers and primary producers globally.
Previously Peter established the International Cocoa Initiative bringing together the global cocoa and chocolate industry to tackle child labour through business engagement and local partnerships. Peter’s earlier career involved roles spanning development, emergency relief and rights-based work, working closely with small producers in both Asia and Africa as well as with large companies in mining, energy, commodities, trading and high-profile consumer brands. Peter has played a leading role in organisations for over 20 years, combining a strong appreciation of business imperatives with creating practical outcomes in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and UNGPS.
Peter qualified as an Industrial Engineer and after an initial period of work in the UK in industrial consultancy, he served as a VSO volunteer in Malawi and then moved to CARE International for thirteen years in various roles.
Paul Williams
Global Head of Environmental & Social Sustainability, Princes
Currently Global Head of Environmental & Social Sustainability at international food and drink group, Princes (part of Mitsubishi Corporation), Paul leads the Group’s award-winning environmental and social sustainability approach.
Specialising in sustainability since 2016, Paul led efforts to achieve Princes’ listing on the CIPS Corporate Ethics Register, which has been retained by the business since 2020. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and remains passionate about aligning procurement with purpose.
Paul is a Board Director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, an independent global body that brings together companies, trade unions and voluntary organisations to promote respect for workers’ rights. He is also a Board Director of supplier-led initiative, the Food Network for Ethical Trade (FNET), and leads its Climate Change Working Group.
In addition to being an SA8000 Social Systems Lead Auditor, Paul is also a Chartered Environmentalist and a Member of the Institute for Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA). He is currently undertaking the University of Cranfield’s Apprenticeship Masters in Sustainability, having completed a postgraduate from the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
More speakers announced shortly.
Register
Use the link below to register for an in-person ticket at Cranfield campus (B122 LR29) or an online space via Zoom.
Sustainability Network Speaker Series
The Sustainability Network Speaker Series is the platform for our network of Cranfield students, faculty, staff, and alumni, our partners in industry and sustainability enthusiasts to hear from thought leaders across all sectors. The series is a chance to delve into a sustainability-related hot topic and explore the challenges and opportunities in embedding sustainability in various areas of industry. We typically host panels and lectures with a mix of thought leaders, sustainability and industry professionals, government, NGOs and academe to seed this discussion. Every session has an opportunity for you to ask questions and get involved in the discussion, as well as a chance to connect with other like-minded people.
