The Political, Economic, and Social Drivers of Responsible Sourcing Standards

This chapter explores the societal drivers pushing for more responsible sourcing practices and behaviours and the pathways that were adopted to advocate for these changes. Underlying concepts promoting better governance, fair share of value, and securing and protecting the rights of vulnerable stakeholders resulted in several standards and tools to improve and monitor corporate performance. From sustainability guidelines to certification schemes and eventually legislation, this chapter drills down to the common denominator within these approaches and how they drive more responsible sourcing practices. These approaches included building awareness and increasing transparency around the environmental, social, governance, and economic impacts of operations. Civil society organisations and leading private and public sector actors, through advocacy and collaboration, influenced powerful actors within supply chains to enact change. Advocates provided recommendations for what responsible behaviours and objectives should be undertaken. Others constructed assurance mechanisms to evidence that change has taken place.