“Sustainable supply chains – Engines for legislation”: This was the title of the first conference of WOM as a new member of the UN Global Compact. On March 21, numerous representatives of the 353 German companies came together in Berlin to find out about the “Climate Protection Plan 2050,” the “CSR Directive Implementation Act,” as well as the “Business and Human Rights National Action Plan” of the German Federal Government.
Because corporate social responsibility is by no means just a “green paint job” for these companies, the guiding principles of the United Nations should also be applied to the activities of German companies on a national level as well as their global value-added and supply chains. With the “National Action Plan for Economic Affairs and Human Rights,” which came into force at the end of 2016, the German Federal Government expects all companies to implement “human diligence processes” by 2020; the implementation will be reviewed annually by companies with more than 500 employees.
For WOM there are numerous obligations, but of course also opportunities. As an OEM partner of the major global medical technology manufacturers, we want to set ourselves up as a sustainable and trustworthy company in such a way that we can meet our responsibilities and, in addition, can compete well in the competition. Participation in the UN Global Compact and the disclosure of our activities in the “Communication on Progress” (COP) are an important milestone for this.
Xenia Rabe-Lehmann