amfori shares key Recommendations in B20 and CII Partnership Summit

The Business 20 (B20) is the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community. B20 India will develop policy recommendations that align with the overall B20 and G20 vision whilst advocating inclusivity and sustainability. 

amfori participated during the B20 India inception meeting in Gandhinagar, organised by B20 India Secretariat Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

amfori President, Linda Kromjong participated in the plenary discussion on ‘Building Resilient Global Value Chains: Advancing Inclusion & Integration of All’. In her intervention she highlighted that whilst technical and financial access remain important for value chains, sustainability is crucial in developing supply chain resilience. ESG pillars must be integrated into supply chain due diligence to build resilience. She emphasised that in situations of difficulty like the ones we have recently experienced (COVID, Ukraine-Russia war, global inflation, supply chain crunch), it is very tempting to see sustainability concerns as a luxury which only some wealthy countries can afford. But we are learning that, for both wealthy and less wealthy countries, neglecting sustainability comes at a much greater cost.

Action Council, Task Force and Partnership Summit

As amfori is member of the ‘Task Force on Inclusive GVCs for Resilient Global Trade and Investment‘ and amfori President, Linda Kromjong co-chairs the ‘Action Council on ESG in Business’, it actively participated in the first and second session organised at the inception meeting.

These sessions coincided with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit to which amfori also participated:

• The Action Council on ESG in Business, focused on several draft recommendations. amfori voiced its key message, calling for respect of existing international Due Diligence standards (UNGPs, OECD guidelines, ILO core conventions) as the starting point of an ESG sustainability effort. amfori also supports the group’s recommendations on addressing the challenges of circular economy. Within the social pillar, amfori calls for more emphasis on the need for businesses to build effective grievance mechanisms, and, in terms of Governance, we support recommendations to optimise and standardise ESG reporting and monitoring standards. 
• In the task force on GVCs, amfori presented proposals on the importance of advancing responsible and gender-responsive procurement, responsible recruitment, and transparent supply chain communication. In the discussion, the importance of capacity building in businesses in emerging economies to manage issues that may hamper supply chain resilience was acknowledged. There were discussions of the importance of including the critical role of anti-corruption and gender responsiveness among the recommendations.
• During the CII Partnership Summit, amfori Senior Manager for Stakeholder Engagement - Guggi Laryea - spoke on Creating Supply Chain Resilience against Geopolitical Disruptions. He pointed out that supply chain resilience in the face of geopolitical disruptions hinged on 5 points:

1. Advancing due diligence in supply chains to meet government, investor and consumer requirements
2. Understanding the risks of disruption, upstream and in real time, to factors of production
3. Building strong relations and dialogue with partners to understand the risks they face and support them in overcoming them
4. Engaging with stakeholders who can impact on geopolitical disruptions and influence trade restrictions, but also provide early warnings
5. Supporting workers in a gender-responsive manner through adequate wages, compensation and safety measures to ensure they are well positioned to continue production

The next rounds of meetings will take place in the coming months and conclude in the B20 India Summit 2023 on 25 - 27 August 2023 in New Delhi, India.