German footwear producer Adidas has recently begun to disclose its global supplier list publicly.

The company followed a number of other footwear and apparel companies in doing so: in mid-2005, Nike became the first major footwear company to publish a list of all of its suppliers globally on its website, after labor rights groups had pressured the company (and its peers) for several years on this issue. Levi Strauss started publishing its list later that year.

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From within the world of SRI, one gets the impression that a key aspect of global supply chain management is how to uphold and improve labor standards for workers producing the things that you and I use every day.

Human rights groups, labor unions, social investors, international organizations, academics and a number of companies have spent years on this question, and there are now annual conferences devoted entirely to labor rights in supply chain production.

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As we look back at the genocide and military conflict in Darfur, Sudan during 2007, the Sudan divestment movement in the U.S. has largely succeeded in bringing increased pressure on financial firms and companies involved in Sudan to sever their financial ties to the Government of Sudan.

A few of the many divestment-related news stories from the past year are highlighted below:

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Jonathan Dee’s article, “A Toy Maker’s Conscience“, which appeared in the New York Times Magazine at the end of December is a must read.

First, it’s a generous yet clear-eyed portrait of Baruch College professor Prakash Sethi, a defining force in the movement for corporate accountability for more than 35 years.

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