Nike Endorses Beyond-Compliance Aims

Sports apparel giant Nike has signed on with the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies to endorse the group’s code of voluntary, “beyond-compliance” environmental conduct.

According to Joan Bavaria, CERES board chair and president of Trillium Asset Management, Nike’s endorsement means that the firm has taken “a major step forward” in its efforts to achieve sustainability throughout its environmental and labor practices.

The 10-point CERES Principles address issues such as informing the public, reducing risk, restoring the environment, and manufacturing safe products and services.

Nike has a lot to gain in the endorsement. CERES, a central player in efforts to standardize corporate reporting on environmental performance, is a nonprofit group of investors, public pension funds, foundations, labor unions, and environmental, religious, and public interest groups representing almost $300 billion in invested assets.

‘An Opportunity to Engage Stakeholders’

Dusty Kidd, Nike’s vice president of corporate responsibility, said his company now has an opportunity to engage important stakeholders in a “broad and highly credible” forum:

“We hope that through this engagement with CERES, we can advance our work in environmental and social issues,” Kidd said.

CERES member organizations represented in talks with Nike included the World Wildlife Fund, the Fairtrade Foundation, and the AFL-CIO, all groups that have criticized Nike’s labor and environmental practices.

Under the terms of the endorsement, Nike will submit to the coalition annual reports and engage in dialogue with special interest groups and individuals concerned about its performance.

‘Not a Seal of Approval’

According to CERES, its acceptance of Nike’s endorsement is not a “seal of approval,” but rather a recognition that the firm has committed to making a good faith effort to continually improve its environmental performance and responsiveness to stakeholder concerns.

Other CERES endorsers include American Airlines, Coca-Cola USA, General Motors, Polaroid, and Sunoco.

To contact CERES regarding Nike’s endorsement of the Principles, contact Brad Sperber at 617-247-0700 ext. 22, or at sperber@ceres.org.

These are the CERES Principles:

1. Protection of the Biosphere. We will reduce and make continual progress toward eliminating the release of any substance that may cause environmental damage to the air, water, or the earth or its inhabitants. We will safeguard all habitats affected by our operations and will protect open spaces and wilderness, while preserving biodiversity.
2. Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. We will make sustainable use of renewable natural resources, such as water, soils and forests. We will conserve non-renewable natural resources through efficient use and careful planning.
3. Reduction and Disposal of Wastes. We will reduce and where possible eliminate waste through source reduction and recycling. All waste will be handled and disposed of through safe and responsible methods.
4. Energy Conservation. We will conserve energy and improve the energy efficiency of our internal operations and of the goods and services we sell. We will make every effort to use environmentally safe and sustainable energy sources.
5. Risk Reduction. We will strive to minimize the environmental, health and safety risks to our employees and the communities in which we operate through safe technologies, facilities and operating procedures, and by being prepared for emergencies.
6. Safe Products and Services. We will reduce and where possible eliminate the use, manufacture or sale of products and services that cause environmental damage or health or safety hazards. We will inform our customers of the environmental impacts of our products or services and try to fix unsafe use.
7. Environmental Restoration. We will promptly and responsibly correct conditions we have caused that endanger health, safety or the environment. To the extent feasible, we will redress injuries we have caused to persons or damage we have caused to the environment and will restore the environment.
8. Informing the Public. We will inform in a timely manner everyone who may be affected by conditions caused by our company that might endanger health, safety or the environment. We will regularly seek advice and counsel through dialogue with persons in communities near our facilities. We will not act against employees for reporting dangerous incidents or conditions to management or to appropriate authorities.
9. Management Commitment. We will implement these Principles and sustain a process that ensures that the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer are fully informed about pertinent environmental issues and are fully responsible for environmental policy. In selecting our Board of Directors, we will consider demonstrated environmental commitment as a factor.
10. Audits and Reports. We will conduct an annual self-evaluation of our progress in implementing these Principles. We will support the timely creation of generally accepted environmental audit procedures. We will annually complete the CERES Report, which will be made available to the public.

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