product stewardship paradigm shifts beth turner global director – sustainability and product...
TRANSCRIPT
Product Stewardship Paradigm Shifts
Beth Turner
Global Director – Sustainability and Product Stewardship
E. I duPont de Nemours and Co, Inc.
Asia Pacific Responsible Care® Conference
November 16, 2005
2
DuPont's VisionTo be the world’s most dynamic science company, creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere.
3
Compliance
Value
Business Integration
Corporate Environmentalism
Vision & Objectives of Woolard
SustainableGrowth
New modelsNew technologies
SHECommitment
DuPont’s Journey
The Goal Is ‘0’
Responsible Care®
4
Old Paradigm
• Rules of the road were well defined by law and regulation
• Government held most of the information, arbitrated the debate . . . and was a powerful force in assuring freedom to operate
• Primary focus was on environmental harm: facility and emission-based rules
• Public’s role was to react and provide comments
5
Old Paradigm
• Science played a strong role and we understood the science
• Most chemicals were not regulated and there was little mandatory testing
• Where there was product regulation, government approvals sufficed for public acceptance
6
Old Paradigm
• Information was provided to the public by government
• National publics were generally isolated from one another
• Within corporations, the responsibility for understanding and managing these issues belonged in HSE, legal or operations
8
Society
• Society is taking a more active role in deciding what is acceptable and unacceptable. Increasingly, power resides with the consumer.
• Facility footprint still matters, but society is concerned about what we make, as well as how we make it
• Public’s concern is broader than harm to air, water – does it harm me?
9
Society
• The public’s concern and role is shifting:
• Products are the new target
• Concern about lack of product regulation
• Concern about societal value and impact from our products down the value chain
• Public’s definition of risk includes a strong “values” component
10
Science
• Science is still important, but is not sufficient for public acceptance
• Consumers are making choices that are not science-based
• Science is rapidly evolving:• Moving from emissions to products to chemicals in body
• Detection limits lower and lower
• Information in public domain before government can tell public what it means
• And what DOES it mean in the cumulative aggregate, not chemical-by-chemical?
• Raising more questions than answers
11
Information
• Rules of the road are ill-defined and not legally based
• The Internet is changing the rules
• Information about safety, risk and societal values is readily and rapidly accessible to the public
• Public more informed about health effects
12
Information
• Information reaches the public domain before government can interpret and respond
• Issues are becoming global and quickly
13
Roles and Power• Power is shifting
• National government is important but is often no longer dominant
• Power to the people
• Power to local government
• Power to international treaties and agencies
• Power to multiple national governments
• Issues are both local and global
• NGOs are playing a growing role in shaping the public’s view of acceptable risk
14
Roles and Power
• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are rising as a filter to society
• The Internet is uniting small, diffuse NGO groups
• NGOs are frequently targeting the marketplace: consumers, markets, brands
• NGOs are connecting with other entities such as plaintiff’s bar for influence
• Public trusting NGOs more than government or industry
15
• Decisions are moving out of the government and into the marketplace.
• We are operating at the indulgence of the public, not at the indulgence of government.
In the New Paradigm
16
• NGOs are forcing market change:• Achieve faster behavior change and risk reduction
• Companies respond quickly to market forces
• A market leader can change an industry’s behavior before government
• Some NGOs interested partnering with companies to effect change
• Others are interested in aggressively targeting companies
In the New Paradigm
17
• Media and internet are making market campaigns globally effective, fast and inexpensive.
• Every industrial sector is impacted: automobiles, food, clothing, . . . chemicals.
In the New Paradigm
18
Sustainable Companies Must
• Have world-class:• Facility management
• Science
• Product stewardship
• Comply with regulations, build strong regulatory relationships, and push for thoughtful regulation
• Partner with friendly NGOs and build relationships with unnatural allies
19
Sustainable Companies Must
• Know critics and understand their concerns
• Be transparent
• Manage corporate reputation and live up to stated values
• Businesses must understand what is happening in their market space, with the support of Responsible Care® professionals
21
• Is your business (or your customer’s business) vulnerable to market based campaigns?
• Are there risks and/or opportunities for your business as activists move their campaigns into the market place?
• Do you have a strategy for incorporating non-traditional stakeholders into your strategic business decisions, from research and development to commercialization?
PROVOCATIONS