SP Q4 2021 Membership Meeting Summary – October 26

The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) Q4 Membership Meeting was held as a virtual event over October 26-28, 2021. SP’s quarterly membership meetings are designed to provide a forum for global automotive manufacturers, their large and small suppliers, and other partners from around the world to work together toward a shared vision of an automotive industry with positive environmental impact.

The Q4 meeting began on October 26 with meetings of SP’s Emerging Professionals Work Group and EHS Forum.

Emerging Professionals

SP’s Emerging Professionals Work Group (SP EP) works to support emerging professionals in advancing innovative associate engagement initiatives at their companies through benchmarking and collaboration with fellow, diverse industry professionals within the Suppliers Partnership network. Chaired by Lisa Majchrzak (Honda), the group is building a cohort of emerging professionals that will be progressing long-term automotive industry sustainability goals into the future (2030 – 2050).

In the October 26 SP EP meeting, participants discussed opportunities for action in support of America Recycles Day in November and heard a case study from Joe Day of TerraCycle on building a community recycling program. For its next meeting, SP EP plans to organize a mentoring dialogue for emerging professionals with a veteran industry sustainability leader.

SP EHS Forum – Evaluating EJ Impacts & Opportunities

SP’s EHS Forum provides a forum to facilitate deeper discussions and connections among SP members related to current and emerging environment, health and safety issues impacting the industry, as identified by SP members. This quarter’s Forum was an interactive member-led discussion of frameworks / strategies to support companies in evaluating potential environmental justice impacts / considerations when planning new projects, and in identifying and highlighting positive community impacts of ongoing environmental sustainability programs and practices in areas of climate, conservation, circularity and others. 

The Forum began with a presentation from Jessica James (GM) introducing GM’s Climate Equity Fund and equitable climate action framework. Kevin Butt (Toyota Motor) then shared information on the actions Toyota is taking in support of environmental justice in its environmental action plan for North America. Following the presentations, Steve Hellem (SP) facilitated a group discussion on opportunities for companies to work together through SP to advance positive actions in support of environmental justice goals.

Attendee input from the session will be shared with a new SP environmental justice work group for consideration in planning its future activities, which will be guided by the following vision, mission and objectives.

• SP Environmental Justice Initiative – Vision. Support SP companies as they strive to positively impact the environment, the economy, and the people who live and work in host communities surrounding automotive manufacturing operations.
• SP Environmental Justice Initiative – Mission. Establish a forum to 1) share the automotive industry’s experience in advancing environmental sustainability projects with positive environmental, economic and community impact across US manufacturing operations and 2) promote public-private collaboration to scale additional voluntary projects that measurably increase environmental benefits for underserved communities and vulnerable populations.
• SP Environmental Justice Initiative – Objectives
  • Best Practice Guidance. Support SP companies in listening, learning, and working together as a group to understand best practice in advancing environmental justice (EJ) experiences.
  • Communication & Education. Support SP companies in telling their sustainability stories in ways community stakeholders understand and connect with, while increasing awareness of our members’ environmental sustainability programs. 
  • Collaboration & Engagement. Support SP companies in learning about and connecting with potential industry, non-profit and/or government collaborators who may help amplify or accelerate their EJ efforts.

Stay tuned for part two, with more details on the next day’s Q4 meeting sessions.

SP’s next quarterly membership meeting is scheduled to be held on January 25 – 27, 2022. As always, SP members and collaborators are encouraged to reach out to learn more about how to get involved in SP work group activities and initiatives and to share your ideas to keep moving us toward our shared vision of an automotive industry with positive environmental impact.

Additional information on the Q4 meeting discussions, presentations and next steps is available to current SP member companies. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about SP and opportunities to participate as a member.