Session Six Flashcards
10 Properties of Wicked Problems
- No definitive formulation
- have no stopping rule
- solutions are not true or false but good or bad
- no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution
- every solution is a “one-shot” operation because there is no opportunity to learn by trial and error and every attempt counts significantly
- Do not have an exhaustively describable set of potential solutions, nor is there a well-described set of permissible options that may be incorporated into the plan
- every wicked problem is essentially unique
- Every wicked problem can be considered a symptom of another problem
- The existence of a discrepancy representing a wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways
- The planner has no right to be wrong
Hard Law vs Soft Law
Hard law: prescriptive, legally binding
Soft law: voluntary, non-binding (e.g. recommendations, guidelines, codes of conduct, labels, standards.)
Environmental litigation trend
> In 2022 more than 2,000 lawsuits were filed in over 40 different countries addressing matters related to global warming, 25% of which have been filed against companies*
Importance for companies to comply with hard laws
> reputational concern (impact on consumers, investors and the stock price)
> economic concern (substantial sanctions)
> personal concern (the liability of executive officers is now increasingly being pursued)
Modern Slavery Act
> The UK Modern Slavery Act requires companies operating in the UK with a turnover in excess of £36 million to report on their efforts to combat modern slavery.
> “TISC” provision : Transparency in Supply Chains: requires companies to publish “ a statement of the steps the organisation has taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place” in its operations or supply chains.
After 5 Years: 40% company non-compliance, 16,000 statement, ZERO injunctions or penalties for failing to report
EU Green taxonomy
Green taxonomy in Europe: defining the criteria for sustainable activities so that investments are channelled to the right projects
> Fighting against greenwashing
EU Taxonomy Objectives (six)
- Climate Change Mitigation
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Sustainable Use and Protection of Water and Marine Resources
- Transition to a Circular Economy, Waste Prevention, and Recycling
- Pollution and Prevention and Control
- Protection of Healthy Ecosystems
The CSRD
- Aims to enhance sustainability reporting and transparency by obligating companies to use common standards
- Aims to provide relevant stakeholders, including investors, consumers and policymakers, with comparable non-financial information to assess company risks around climate change and other ESG issues.
- Adopts a double materiality perspective
- Requires external audit
- Replaces the existing Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) that targeted 5 times less companies, did not provide harmonised standards and did not require reporting
Repairability Index
France implemented a repairability index on 5 categories of electronic devices
- Availability of technical documentation
- Ease of disassembly
- Spare Parts availability
- Spare Parts price
- Product-specific criteria
Repairability Index: Results, limits, and recommendations
Results
- an effective index
- practices that have evolved
- consumers adoption
Limits
- disparate application depending on the product
- application varies from one manufacturer to another
- a scale that does not discriminate sufficiently between performances - a lack of transparency in how the index is calculated
- a lack of access to information - an overly generous final rating
Recommendations
- creating a public website to collect and display the repairability index
- make openly available the completed and detailed calculation grid as well as the commitments on which producers base their calculations
- a review the weighting system of the index to give priority to the disassembly, the availability and price of spare parts
CSDDD (Corporate sustainability due diligence directive)
- Proposal from the European Commission to introduce legislation on the corporate duty of vigilance at the European Union (EU) level.
- Should make a growing number of companies eligible for new obligations, in particular, that of guaranteeing respect for human and environmental rights within their subsidiaries and among their suppliers.
Duty of Vigilance: accountability, due diligence, transparency, reparation
Soft Laws
Limits
- Poor Coordination
- Duplicated Activity
- Increased certification costs and consumer confusion
> > Perception that parallel standards fail to provide an efficient and equitable means of promoting sustainability within global value chains
Main Stages in the Evolution of Sustainability Coffee
- Counter hegemonic movement” niche challengers confront main incumbents (Revolution)
- Ethical Branding Phase: sustainability at the core of firms branding, development of partnerships with NGOs (Absorption)
- Supply Chain Resilience: sustainability becomes anchored in firms procurement and SC strategies (Incremental Change)
Managing Wickedness
- Involve stakeholders, document opinions, and communicate
- Define the corporate identity
- Focus on action
- Adopt a “feed-forward”
orientation
What do most MSIs have in common?
MSI = “multi-sectoral initiatives that bring together a range of stakeholders to create governance solutions for social and environmental problems”
✔ Organize collective projects among their members
✔ Facilitate the creation of a common agenda
✔ Produce soft laws through voluntary engagement & decision-making by consensus
