I think it is imperative that businesses work with local ecosystems and actors to understand the true needs and then identify value add partnerships with others that bring complimentary skills, this is key! Crucial now is to learn and share successes but as we move forward more importantly the failures with others so that we can learn together and identify what works and how partnerships can be scaled with the right partners.
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**Why Partner?
Engagement with business is critical in Oxfamâs agenda of fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice, offering lifesaving support in times of crisis and advocating for economic justice, gender equality and climate action. As a key actor in many global challenges, and as a central development partner, companies face greater expectations to improve the impacts of their operations, supply chains and political activities.
Oxfamâs approach to businesses is to act as both a principled and forceful advocate, calling out corporate practices that contribute to deepening poverty, inequality and climate change, while also partnering with companies to tackle complex problems and improve social and environmental impacts. This can take the form of a tough challenge or deep collaboration to achieve corporate accountability, as well as effective partnerships to create systemic changes.
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It is vital for businesses to consider their full supply chain when they look at innovation and future proofing. If a business is going to be truly resilient in the future, it needs to look at every step in the supply chain, and of course that starts at origin, with the farmers and workers. Unless farmers and workers are able to work into the future, businesses wonât have a product to sell in the UK in the long term. Fairtrade is one of the ways farmers and workers â and thus the business who source from them - can become more resilient into the future.
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Response to Question 1: Part 1:
Iâd like to take a step back and focus on critical tenets of relationship and partnership building: communication and negotiation. Businesses and organizations are made of people, and we must ensure that we have strong skills in both these areas because all partnerships give and take. Some tools I use to hone these skills are the Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast from Standford and attending negotiation classes or reading posts on it, when possible, to refresh these skills taught in university. Business Fights Poverty had a similar online written panel on communication among businesses, and I would recommend that as well. I think this is especially critical because of power imbalances. Companies, especially those lower in the value chain, feel nervous about sharing their challenges and what they would instead do with their funders and partners.
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Partnerships offer part of a solution to the complex web of sustainability challenges. They help overcome competitive boundaries and create a platform for shared objectives, encouraging a spirit of cooperation that is central to tackling larger environmental issues.
CottonConnect has always believed in the power of partnerships. Textile brands partner with CottonConnect to build resilient, sustainable supply chains that not only improves the quality of crop but also empowers and capacitates farmers on sustainable farming practices that can combat the impact of climate change. We in turn work with implementing partners with close ties to the communities.
The world of partnerships fosters agility, innovation, and collaboration â essential ingredients for impactful solutions. By prioritizing sustainable partnerships, businesses unlock a wealth of opportunities and ignite innovation. These cross-industry collaborations transcend traditional boundaries, reshaping the business landscape for a more positive and sustainable future. As the momentum behind sustainable partnerships builds, their potential for positive change expands exponentially. They stand as a powerful testament to how cooperation can be a driving force for progress.
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Trust, Credibility and Impact
A key motivator for partnership is trust and credibility and how these relate to corporate identity.
Following the Edelman Trust Barometer, businesses are the most trusted sector of society, followed by NGOs; however, all sectors, including business and NGOs as well as government and media, are more trusted when they act in partnership.
For a partnership with business to bolster trust and credibility, it is crucial for business to focus on the most important challenges, and on where they have the biggest impact. This includes credible plans for climate change, inequality, and, increasingly, for stepping up to societal disruptions by applying their new technologies, processes, business models and other innovations to help ensure people are able to maintain their rights and dignities in crisis, from disrupters such as the latest pandemic, to the rapid increase in climate-driven disasters and conflict.
We see two types of partnerships as the most impactfulâtransformational partnerships, which focus on improving business practices, and what we call partnerships for innovation, where we focus on deep co-creation and innovation.
- Transformative Partnerships are collaborative partnerships with companies that have a critical impact on tackling inequality and driving climate and gender justice, with the intent of changing business practices so that people in or around their supply chains are better off. They are often grounded in policy commitments and can help define and model âwhat good looks likeâ. For example, with respect to inequality, working with companies to assess what the living wage and living income should be in specific supply chains, and devise approaches to meet living wage or living income commitments, or credible approaches to human rights due diligence; to be particularly impactful, such approaches need to be developed with the frontline workers and communities who will be impacted. With respect to climate justice, this would look like the development of credible corporate climate action plans, and just transition plans.
- Partnerships for Innovation (P4I) are partnerships with selected companies where deep co-creation and application of new technologies, processes, business models and other innovations take place that can be applied to humanitarian or development challenges to drive greater social and environmental impact. A key feature of such partnerships is that we seek to leverage, lift and learn from an innovation on the part of the private sector, and refine and apply it to a development challenge.
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An innovative way for businesses to address global challenges would be through prioritizing bottom-up information from a targeted population. By understanding peopleâs challenges, businesses can accurately build informed alliances and partnerships to support them in the process of overcoming obstacles. Furthermore, if a business allies with another organization, they can establish a relationship in which they interchange benefits. A network that fosters a collaborative approach between mutually beneficial businesses/organizations can work together to tackle global challenges. Victoria Peroni & Fernando Stumpfs
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With the Fairtrade Minimum Price and Premium - and with direct support from Fairtrade Producer Networks at origin - farmers and workers have access to better prices, resources and the financial stability to be resilient in times of crisis, to protect the environment, and to adapt to the risks of climate change.
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Hello everyone! I am Raul Gauto, with Fundacion Paraguaya, here in Paraguay. Mi rreply to the first question is âBy pursuing the triple bottom line approach doing its business. Its imperative that each company realizes that it is just not good enough to make money, we need to create wealth insteadâ
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Trends
With respect to ensuring that such partnerships are âfuture fit,â I think itâs important to take into account the broader context and trends in society and in the business community, under which NGOs and businesses are partnering:
⢠The power and concentration of corporates is increasing.
⢠There is also a heightened expectation on business to step up on societal challenges, and new paradigms, in particular the SDGs & Paris agreement, rely on business as a key actor
⢠The landscape is changing: companies are taking a public stance and taking on new policy commitments, providing opportunities to collaborate
⢠Climate change and inequality in particular have captured the public imagination and have risen to the top of the corporate sustainability agenda.
⢠The pandemic was a disrupter, more is coming (climate, drought, conflict) and companies are preparing to perform in a new business environment
⢠Rapidly changing & disruptive technologies are shaping a new futureâand are in turn often born out of societal disruption
⢠The interconnectedness of these risks requires new collaborations
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Hi all - Laura and Verity from The Partnership Collective. The Partnership Collective are experts at creating business, social and environmental change for inclusive growth.â We do this by facilitating collaboration between communities, business and organisations to create solutions that are inclusive, collectively owned and drive benefit for all stakeholders and rightsholders.
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Also crucial to leverage knowledge and networks effectively and find the most appropriate âlaneâ to stay within that aligns to the business. Donât be afraid to try new things, take risks and operate in new and different ways of working and align partnerships that are outcome focused and longer term focused but have the flexibility to change and adapt as needs change.
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First, ensure public interests come first and that profits are then aligned with those not the other way around. This is best facilitated by forming equal partnerships such as alliances between private sector and allies who are not private sector â this would include civil society orgs and government. This will help ensure that business interests are aligned with public interests and that global goals like the SDGs and targets are not set by business alone but in unison with other actors. Second, set ambitious but achievable targets and commit to transparent reporting and monitoring of these. These kind of partnerships and targets are the ones which ATNI aims to establish and strengthen to improve nutrition and health outcomes at scale. In summary ones which are good for people and planet first but also can be good for business.
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Taking coffee production as an example: By 2050, major coffee producing countries are predicted to lose 30-60% of the land fit for coffee cultivation. So, without putting measures in place to look after the environment, and if we donât source from more sustainable supply chains, or farms run by people who care for the planet, itâs possible that one day coffee could no longer be an everyday product for us.
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- For instance, to address complex challenges in agri-food systems such as limited access to markets and finance, gender inequality, and climate change, MEDA actively engages in collaborative partnerships with public and private sector stakeholders, including local NGOs, communities, and investors to drive a Program Plus approach where capital and access to finance works with other program elements to support growth-oriented businesses to create decent jobs in agriculture and food systems.
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The role of business risk/continuity teams needs to evolve to capture all risk and impact. Not just materiality, but the impact the business is having across all of its functions, products and services.
Businesses need to start by mapping their impact across the entire business including finance, HR and employee engagement, supply chain, partnerships, products, services and other business functions. Mapping needs to integrate social, economic, environmental and policy considerations to build a joined-up picture of the impact as well as how risks intersect to create new or different challenges.
The Partnership Collective maps and facilitates diverse partnerships with NGOâs, specialist impact and environmental organisations, trade unions, worker cooperatives etc to support the co-development of potential solutions in partnership with worker groups, communities and stakeholders. Partnerships should be established with the long-term aim to not only mitigate business impacts but to support a shift in embedding inclusive and just business models which deliver transformative impact for integrated social and environmental outcomes.
An example of this would be moving away from traditional programmes which âsupportâ communities within your supply chain to thinking about how your business procures goods and services in a different way to create more economic, social and environmental value for communities through your business practices, rather than alongside. It is important to identify what is within your businessâs control where you need to collaborate and partner, and then where you need to influence and advocate for wider change.
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Agree⌠Business partnerships can transcend country boundaries â and enable replication across boundariesâŚAnd other boundaries as well. There is a flexibility often that many development initiative donât have.
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With Fairtrade, farmers not only protect the environment but are also trained to withstand the impacts of the climate crisis. Over 2.3 million hectares of farmland (an area larger than Wales) are protected by Fairtrade Climate Change adaptation plans. Whatâs more, Fairtrade producers must adhere to environmental requirements on soil and water quality, pest management, avoiding harmful chemicals, and protecting biodiversity. Fairtrade farmers and workers also have access to training from our Producer Networks at origin, so they are better aware of environmental challenges and their impacts.
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Response to Question 1: Part 2:
A second point Iâd like to share is how businesses can share the burden of impact measurement; are there indicators that can serve as proxies where one company has easier or less resource-intensive access than another? Companies collaborating closely in complex supply chains can have conversations on impact measurement to develop resilient partnerships. Often impact measurement is seen as uni-directional for the sake of reporting and accountability to funders and investors. But there is so much more power in data for the use of better understanding and improving operations and enabling lean thinking.
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There is an opportunity for businesses to analyze where innovative partnerships, such as between NGOs, industry associations, or public sector, can increase business resilience, such as enabling the diversification of their product offerings, market segments, or strengthening a businessâ core operations through identifying and remediating the barriers that women, youth, or traditionally excluded groups may face as employees or suppliers.
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