In the coming weeks, Verité experts Daryll Delgado, Philip Hunter, and Melizel Asuncion will be panelists at various events across Asia focusing on palm oil and other global supply chain issues.
WWF Japan and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) will be hosting a Japan Day event at the Tokyo International Forum Hall on September 27, 2016. Founded in 2004, the RSPO is a multi-stakeholder initiative “that unites stakeholders from the 7 sectors of the palm oil industry: oil palm producers, processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks/investors, and environmental and social non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.” Verité Southeast Asia has been a member since 2013 and is part of the Human Rights Working Group and Task Force on Labor Standards Compliance.
With more than 300 participants expected, the one-day RSPO Japan Day event will tackle a variety of issues including supply chain certification, best practices, and challenges. Verité Southeast Asia Research and Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Daryll Delgado, will join speakers from Daabon Group and the CDP Secretariat to present in the session, “Latest Situation Surrounding Palm Oil.”
Business, government, and civil society will come together on September 28-29 at the CSR Asia Summit in Hong Kong to focus on sustainable solutions to current challenges in the Asia Pacific Region. Verité’s Philip Hunter will be a panelist for the, “Tackling Modern Day Slavery & Global Supply Chain Issues” session on September 29. Philip will be joined by Andrew Goledzinowski, Ambassador for People Smuggling and Human Trafficking, Australia; Balan Shanmuganathan, EHS Senior Director, Seagate Technology; and Darian McBain, Global Director of Sustainable Development, Thai Union.
The American Bar Association’s Section of International Law will hold its 2016 Fall Meeting from October 18-21 in Tokyo. On October 20, Verité Staff Attorney, Melizel Asuncion, will speak on the panel, “The Ethical Supply Chain: Effective Management to Prevent Human Rights Abuses and Mitigate Compliance Risk.” Moderated by Jesse Goldman, Bennett Jones LLP, Toronto, Canada; Melizel will be joined by Edna Udobong, Liberty University School of Law, Lynchburg, VA to speak about human rights and ethical issues in supply chain management with a focus on Asia and to provide some concrete steps to identify risk factors and red flags.