International seminar discusses inclusion of the supply chain in the sustainability agenda and marks the launch of arara.io, the first green fintech for supply chain financing

Concern for the environment and for fairer and safer working conditions is no longer an individual choice for each company. Faced with the planet’s emergencies, sustainability is a strategic decision and business survival. This scenario is valid for the entire productive sector. The more a large company works in partnership with its suppliers, the closer it will be to the ESG (environment, social and governance) culture.

The importance of an integrated action by the private sector to advance in the reduction of global warming and inequalities was the theme of the seminar “Sustainability in the supply chain”, organized by Valor Econômico newspaper and which marked the launch of arara.io, the first green fintech which combines funding with ESG assessment in the supply chain, last Thursday, the 3rd.

The digital meeting brought together the three co-founders of arara.io — Felipe Gutterres, Ram Mahidhara and Sudhi Mukherjee —, L’Oréal’s Sustainability directors, Maya Colombani, and Nestlé’s, Fabio Spinelli, and Suzano’s Director of Supplies and Logistics. , Wellington Giacomin, mediated by journalist Ascânio Seleme, columnist for the newspaper O Globo.

“We see the climate emergency every day. The role of corporations is extremely important in this turn, there is no way to think about ESG without including their supply chains. Or the concept of sustainability does not stand,” said Gutterres, CEO of arara.io.

Maya Colombani cited initiatives already in practice by L’Oréal, in partnership with suppliers, such as increasing natural products in cosmetics and guaranteeing a decent wage. “Companies have the role of being catalysts for change, of putting climate issues at the center of their business, but also at the center of discussion”, defended Maya.

Profit in focus

Arara.io Chief Operating Officer Ram Mahidhara highlighted that between 70% and 90% of climate and ESG risks are in the supply chain. The debaters agreed that social and environmental concerns and profit are not mutually exclusive.

“Sustainability and profitability is a false dichotomy. When we talk about the environment, social and governance, it’s not just wanting to do good for the world, it’s a matter of risk for the business”, warned Mahidhara.

At Nestlé, 80% of greenhouse gas emissions come from primary chains, according to the company’s Sustainability director.

“We understand that it is a collective work and that it involves our supply chain, from the production of raw materials, even if they are not direct suppliers, to the product reaching consumers and post-consumption disposal”, said Fabio Spinelli.

Among the company’s actions is, in partnership with Embrapa, the creation of the first national protocol for the production of low carbon milk.

“There are many metrics used for the performance of companies in terms of climate, global warming or other aspects. ESG has been a journey, some are more advanced, others are chasing, it is difficult to compare one country with another, because of the context in which each society is inserted”, said Sudhi Mukherjee, director of Technology and Sustainability at Macaw. io.

Suzano’s Supply and Logistics director drew attention to the importance of sustainability being present in all areas.

“Sustainability is an inherent part of our business. The concern for the next generations is increasingly embedded in our suppliers, customers and shareholders”, concluded the Suzano executive.

The journalist and mediator of the seminar Ascânio Seleme highlighted the depth of the issues raised at the event: “It was a very fruitful debate for us, as consumers, for financiers and for entrepreneurs, with very strong answers”.

Methodology generates company ranking

Proprietary taxonomy aims to help large and small businesses evolve towards ESG goals

Many companies are involved in the global effort to reduce environmental harm, but still do not know how to take the ESG agenda one step further and need help to monitor sustainable supply chain performance, assess and mitigate risks. It is in this context that arara.io, the first fintech for green financing in the country’s supply chain, arrives in Brazil. With technology and data, arara.io is able to analyze and rank sustainable suppliers and connect them to green funders.

“The process of evaluating suppliers, analyzing the supply chain, involves a series of approaches, such as defining how you are going to measure and encourage suppliers to evolve within this ESG journey. What we do is facilitate this by combining advisory, ranking, supply chain analysis, financing, and proprietary ESG taxonomy (classification and organization of information). Our goal is to democratize this process. It goes a long way if it’s easy, technologically advanced and inexpensive. When the supplier understands that he has an incentive not only to be a better supplier, but also to obtain liquidity, it is an important fuel for the decarbonization process to proceed”, says Gutterres.

With extensive experience as an infrastructure, logistics and oil and gas executive, Gutterres teamed up with two Indian professionals he has known for a long time. Ram Mahidhara is a senior leader in emerging markets infrastructure, with more than 20 years of experience at IFC/World Bank in more than 30 countries, with a focus on investments and asset management in the order of US$4 billion. Sudhi Mukherjee is an expert in the development and implementation of sustainability frameworks and was a senior global ESG specialist at the IFC/World Bank, where he worked for over 20 years, with experience in over 60 countries.

“Companies like L’Oréal, Nestlé and Suzano are at the top of their game. There are companies in Brazil and elsewhere that don’t have that depth and ability to tackle the ESG agenda. We hope to be able to help them quickly and efficiently identify what their supply chain risks are using a new proprietary taxonomy and global benchmarks,” explains Mahidhara.

The certification of sustainable suppliers, based on data analysis and performance monitoring, is also among the platform’s activities.

“The collection of social and environmental data in the last ten years has grown a lot, but the data analysis is sometimes of dubious quality. We seek to ensure the quality and significance of the data. We look at supply chain shortfalls and want to bring more technology, our knowledge and our ability to quickly analyze supply chain risks and put the right measures in the right places,” concludes Mukherjee.

By arara.io on 02/07/2022 10:16 am

Source: https://valor.globo.com/patrocinado/araraio/noticia/2022/02/07/cumprimento-de-metas-esg-depende-de-parceria-com-fornecedores.ghtml