In the 1950s and 1960s, Kenya was known as the ‘Land of Splendour’ with its rich historical background, great diversity of physical features, pleasant climate, diverse people, and magnificent wilderness.
The Constitution offers a more progressive model for environmental conservation and management.
Companies like Coca-Cola and East African Breweries Ltd are trying to meet the green standards.
Climate change and environmental degradation are key issues to governments around the world. Government institutions, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations and politicians try to implement regulations and limits to reduce environmental degradation burden of the industries around the globe.
Sustainable supply chain management has received increased attention by both local and international companies because it emerges as a new systematic environmental approach in global supply chain management and because of its role in bringing sanity in production.
Most multinationals have successfully implemented the green policy.
These green initiatives include replacing conventional energy sources by renewable energies, using environment-friendly materials in manufacturing, conserving precious resources using green design of buildings, reduced use of water, production of on-site energy — including solar energy, bio-gas fuel cells, and micro-hydro energy.
Provision of electric vehicle charging ports, making lean products and packages, take-back policy for sold products, recycling collection of the overall amount of previously sold products, robotics, rationalising of distribution centres, optimising transportation distance and reducing the number of trucks in the supply chain also make the list.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Kenya was known as the ‘Land of Splendour’ with its rich historical background, great diversity of physical features, pleasant climate, diverse people, and magnificent wilderness.
The Constitution offers a more progressive model for environmental conservation and management.
Companies like Coca-Cola and East African Breweries Ltd are trying to meet the green standards.
Despite this, implementation of environmental policies, especially in government institutions has been a challenge.
According to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), green economy encompasses all activities or actions that help reduce carbon emissions, which are a major component of greenhouse gases that increase global warming, thus causing climate change.
LITTERING MENACE
It explains further that, green economy upholds the efficient use of natural resources and energy while enabling economic growth that supports creation of job opportunities and improvement of livelihoods, thus alleviating poverty.
Supply chain activities generate large quantities of organic solid waste, pollutants and by-products.
The impacts include water pollution, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, long-term damage to ecosystems, hazardous emissions as well as high greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.
Effective environmental management consists of elements that span all aspects of an organisation’s operations.
Organisations must, therefore, invest in appropriate eco- technologies relevant to their operations. This will enhance cleaner production technologies aimed at enhancing optimal operations, efficient use of raw materials and energy to produce green products.
Today, the world is facing a myriad of challenges from Covid-19, governance issues, racism, tribalism, and climate change to nepotism and gender inequalities.
There is a need for a paradigm shift in the way people, companies, and governments think and behave. For instance, when travelling or at home or in the office ensure you take care of your litter.
Responsible behaviour starts by ensuring that our environment is clean.
CHANGE AGENTS
There should be increased training by companies on improving pro-environmental attitudes, behaviour and habits of individuals, whether at home, in educational facilities, travelling, shopping or in the workplace.
Supply chain managers and supply chain management professionals are being observed as catalysts for corporate transformation and consumers as change agents towards more sustainable business practices of companies. Consumers must, therefore, resist products from companies that are not environmentally conscious.
This starts from the way products are packaged, adherence to health and safety measures, leanness of products, waste disposal policies, materials and ingredients used for making of the products.
Governments, public officers, UN agencies like United Nations Global Compact, Unep and both local and international NGOs need to interrogate and transform models for environmental sustainability across the globe.
The writer is supply chain management consultant
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