G7 moves to address sustainable supply chains

Group of 7 ministers meeting in Berlin Tuesday issued a declaration outlining specific actions to promote worker rights, improve working conditions and employ environmental protections in global supply chains.    Group of 7 (G7) ministers meeting in Berlin Tuesday issued a declaration outlining specific actions to promote worker rights, improve working conditions and employ environmental protections in global supply chains. 
   The ministers agreed on a number of supply chain-related measures, including the creation of the “Vision Zero Fund,” which aims to strengthen efforts to prevent and reduce workplace-related deaths and serious injuries. Governments and the private sector will contribute to the fund.
   “We believe that globalization should benefit people and support progress in sustainable development worldwide. Working conditions endangering the environment, occupational safety and health as well as fundamental principles and rights at work and other human rights are not acceptable,” the G7 delegates said in a statement.
   “Unregulated and unsafe work environments are a cause for significant social and economic losses. An estimated 4 percent of the world’s GDP, or $2.8 trillion, is lost every year due to the costs of work-related accidents and diseases. Annually, 2.3 million men and women die from work-related accidents and diseases, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO).”
   The ministerial meeting built on the decision at the G7 Leaders’ Summit earlier this year to improve labor rights, working conditions and environmental impact in global supply chains.
   “As some of the world’s largest consumers and producers, we not only have the power to promote efforts to keep workers safe in other countries; we share a responsibility to do so. The U.S. supports today’s declaration, including the establishment of the Vision Zero Fund, which represents a significant milestone in the path toward safe and healthy workplaces worldwide,” U.S. Deputy Labor Secretary Christopher Lu said in news release.
   The Group of 7 (G7) consists of finance ministers and central bank governors from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as representation from the European Union. The G7 countries represent over 64 percent of net global wealth and 46 percent of global GDP.