Our Vision

Members of the Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) share a common vision of working together to improve environmental sustainability and competitiveness of the global automotive supply chain. While environmental sustainability encompasses many important issues, advancing biodiversity conservation within both our own operations, as well as those of our suppliers, is one component of this vision and the focus of SP’s Biodiversity Work Group.

We believe corporate conservation programs need not be complex or costly and often begin with a small step, such as the establishment of a pollinator garden at a single site.  Pollinators, like the Monarch butterfly, are critical to our ecosystem and are in decline globally, in part due to lack of habitat.  And, when considering the position and scale of the automotive industry’s manufacturing footprint in North America in relation to the annual migration patterns of species like the Monarch Butterfly, we feel that we have a unique opportunity to work together to collectively achieve greater impact in creating meaningful new habitat for such species on our corporate lands.

Pollinator Project Challenge

In support of this vision, we have issued a challenge to automakers and their suppliers to work together through SP and make a commitment to implement or expand a pollinator project at one, or more, of their sites. We understand that not every project will be successful, but we ask that participants commit to try it and provide information back to us on the outcomes of their pollinator project efforts.

A variety of large and small automotive companies have now taken this challenge on, including companies such as DENSO International America, ES Group, ERA Environmental Management Solutions, FIC America Corp, Ford Motor Company, GHD, General Motors, Heritage Interactive Services, Honda of America Manufacturing, Lear Corp, Mobile Fluid Recovery, MPS Group, Robert Bosch LLC, Stellantis, Sustainable Materials Solutions LLC, Tetra Tech, Toyota Motor North America and Waste Management.

Through a memorandum of understanding with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), SP member companies participating in the Challenge receive access to complimentary conservation resources to help guide them through a pollinator project design and implementation process, along opportunities for technical support from WHC conservation specialists where needed. 

SP has also engaged with the Pollinator Partnership to provide its members with additional educational resources and ideas to support pollinator conservation on their sites and within their communities. In addition, experts at the Wildlife Habitat Council and ERA Environmental Management Solutions are supporting SP in collecting data from Challenge participants to assess progress.

We have also compiled resources to support companies in communicating with their employees on the importance of pollinators, and encouraging them to take action in support of pollinators at home as well as at work.

USEFUL RESOURCES

• Pollinator Challenge Sign Up Form
• Pollinator Challenge Reporting Form
• Engaging Employees in Supporting Pollinators at Home
• White Paper | Prioritizing Pollinators in Corporate America (Wildlife Habitat Council)
• Pollinator Project Guidance (Wildlife Habitat Council)
• Monarch Resources (Pollinator Partnership)
• Project Wingspan (Pollinator Partnership)

How to Participate in the Pollinator Challenge

Featured Resource – SP / WHC Pollinator Toolkit

A practical guide to improving and protecting biodiversity through the creation of locally appropriate pollinator habitat. This toolkit is intended for use by SP members, their employees, and community partners. It provides practical information to support pollinator communities with a garden or a grassland habitat enhancement activity. The suggested model of engagement is adapted to the opportunities and constraints of the corporate reality and is designed to support a wide range of biodiversity and business objectives, from social license to operate to sustainability reporting.

Automakers and suppliers work together to support over 2400 acres of pollinator habitat across their operations

Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) – an association of global automakers and their suppliers working together to advance environmental sustainability through the automotive supply chain –  has announced key outcomes of its Biodiversity Work Group Pollinator Project Challenge in 2019, including that SP members are now collectively managing over 2,400 acres of their corporate lands as wildlife habitat for pollinators. Read more…