There is a need for buyer and supplier entities as well as other stakeholders to come together and collaborate to contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) instead of focusing on compliance needs, said a member of Centre for Responsible Business (CRB).

While speaking to KNN India today on the sidelines of Project Inception Meeting here, Assistant Professor in Management, CSR and Sustainability, Aston Business School, UK and Chairperson of CRB, Bimal Arora said, “Typically buyer entities focus on ensuring working conditions improvement, environmental situation improvement and their supply chain through code of conduct. As well supplier entities are expected to meet those conducts.”

“There are allegation on buyers in terms of that they are focusing on code of conducts to minimize the risk in the supply chain. Whereas supplier entities are largely focusing on managing the compliance process,” he said.
Speaking more about SDGs he said, “So the SDG is about local development issues. SDGs seek the need of the local issues and local processes.”

This meeting today was organized as part of a project launched in November 2018, with CRB and Aston Business School to promote responsible value chains in India for an effective contribution of the private sector to the SDGs.

“Through this project we are interested in researching on how global value chains and actors involved in those global value chains can contribute to SDGs,” Arora said.

Talking about role of private sector in sustainable development he said, “Role of private sector in sustainable development is fairly critical as government alone cannot do anything and address any challenges.”

Private sector which is running businesses, creating employment and generating different kinds of resources in the process are in the position to contribute to focus of this project, Arora mentioned.

When asked about reasonable value chain He said, “There are two sides to reasonable value chain in India. One is the local value chains which is creator to domestic market and second is the global value chains where Indian entities get into different markets all around the globe through exports.”

He further added that the issues of social responsibility and sustainability if addressed by different actors involved in the chain might be useful. (KNN/JM)