The Activist Leader by Lucy Parker

Author:Lucy Parker [Miller, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2022-11-28T17:00:00+00:00

(i) Transparency as an agent of change.

We profiled Coca-Cola’s work to reduce plastic waste earlier: when the initiative launched, the company disclosed for the first time that it creates 3 million tonnes of plastic packaging a year, equivalent to 200,000 bottles a minute. It’s a startling figure that made headlines. Publishing that fact in a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), that called for ‘an end to secrecy over companies’ plastics footprint’, they put themselves into the leading pack of companies choosing to grapple with the reality of the challenge.[23] Externally, it sent the message that the company was ready to own their part of the waste issue in the world and strengthened the call for all companies to acknowledge the problem and act. Inside the company, it set the baseline and justified the need to act at scale.

Similarly, when Tesco first published data on food waste in its operations, it was a first for the industry.[24] And it served as a signal of serious intent in the company’s ambition to lead the fight against global food waste. When Dave Lewis, while still CEO of Tesco, took on a global leadership role as chair of the Champions 1.23 for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, his call to action was for the transparent publication of data. ‘Publishing food waste data can sting,’ he conceded, but it must be done:

You have to understand where food is wasted before you can tackle it. You have to know where to find the hotspots from farm to fork. And you have to share what you know. We’re clear that individual companies publicly measuring and reporting on food waste and loss is critical.[25]

During his time chairing the international coalition, the pioneering move made by Tesco was adopted by sixty other companies in the food system.[26]

By publishing its food waste data, Tesco helped campaigners to raise the bar for the industry. Being transparent about its own plastic problem, Coca-Cola was able to kick-start its global transformation programme and its own leadership role. Putting this kind of data into the public domain and engaging with multiple stakeholders in this way can be a game-changer, enabling a company to work constructively with even its most vocal critics.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.