Aiming to top the $34.5 billion Canadians spent in  December 2009, some retailers stocked sustainability-related products this past Christmas. However, those retailers are still slow to adopt social and environmental supply chain standards, says new research from the Richard Ivey School of Business.

Shoppers may have found LED Christmas lights, organic clothing and fair trade chocolate – products with some redeeming ethical features – but retailers have been slow to stock merchandise produced according to truly responsible environmental and social standards.

Michael Wood and Brent McKnight, PhD candidates investigating sustainability issues, along with Professor Tima Bansal, Director of Ivey’s Centre for Building Sustainable Value, wrote the newly released report entitled ‘Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Sustainability and  the Retail Sector.’

‘Sustainability related products make a variety of claims that can be difficult to support. Retailers are wary of the reputation risks associated with charges of greenwashing when products don’t measure up,’ said McKnight, while noting that retailers are taking action to reduce the negative impacts of the products they do offer, including stocking concentrated detergent and reducing packaging.

On the supply chain side, retailers have adopted broad, but weak, social and environmental standards that are poorly monitored. Supply chains are critical for retailers as they are the final leg of a product’s journey to the consumer.

‘Retailers should consider third party certification for their supply chains to improve transparency and help monitor their supply chains,’ said McKnight.

Of the firms sampled, only one third had broadly scoped social supply chain standards, with only 11% possessing strong standards, including the adoption of accepted International Labour Organization conventions.

Finally, in reviewing working conditions, although the retail sector is a significant employer, retail employees lack job security. ‘With respect to discrimination and diversity practices, retailer actions speak louder than words; practices have been falling short of policy promises,’ said Wood.

(Source: www.environmental-expert.com )