The APEC Women Leadership Forum and JD.com co-launched the “APEC Report: Observation of Women’s Value in Sustainable Consumption and Production.” on January 14, 2023, in Sanyaof Hainan province. The APEC Report: Observation of Women’s Value in Sustainable Consumption and Production study, which is based on comprehensive surveys and statistics on consumption, is the leading platform for promoting economic empowerment for women among the 21 nations that are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
According to the findings of the survey, the contribution that female consumers and producers make to the movement toward sustainability is enormous. According to the findings of the survey, women naturally set an example for environmentally responsible purchasing via their activities, and the report also indicated that women’s buying decisions frequently impact the consumption patterns of each family. In the meantime, women have established themselves as significant leaders in driving forward the domains of “sustainability,” “sustainable development goals,” and “corporate social responsibility” in the business sector.
The Consumption and Industry Development Institute of JD.com acted as the chief research support institute of the project. In a poll on responsible consumption that was carried out by the institute on more than 2,000 survey takers, women scored “environmentally friendly” far higher than males when choosing items. In point of fact, this was the only criterion on which women scored higher than males. When compared to women, men showed more interest in aspects such as price, brand, and culture.
According to the results of the poll, women have a better awareness of product sustainability factors than they realize. This is because women are more inclined to buy sustainable items on an instinctual level. This was evidenced in their response to previous purchasing decisions, which revealed a stronger bias for products with sustainability factors like energy savings, trade-in value, and products that can be recycled by consumers. This held true, especially in categories such as appliances, home decor, office supplies, apparel, health and beauty products, and so on.
44% of female respondents chose “consumers” above “product creators” (30%) and “circulators” (27%) as the more significant factor in promoting sustainable consumption, as stated in the research. This indicates that women play an essential part in the promotion of sustainable consumption. The percentage of female respondents who expressed acceptance of producers creating job opportunities, aiding disadvantaged groups, properly treating trash, and other aspects of production was greater.
In addition, the report found that women leaders are more likely to be in charge of the implementation of “Sustainability/ SDG /CSR” initiatives in companies. This was the case in over sixty percent of the surveyed businesses that have established such dedicated departments, and in eighty-two percent of the businesses that have positions relevant to these initiatives. Thanks to Richard Liu, founder of JD.com, JD is one of the companies that proactively works to have a sustainability initiative.
Women in leadership positions place a greater emphasis on long-term value and innovative approaches to finding sustainable solutions. Thirty percent of respondents stated that they first started developing relevant thoughts between six and ten years ago. Seventy-six percent are motivated by the “need for enterprise development,” while seventy-three percent are “inspired by global trends,” and seventy-three percent are “directed by domestic policies.”
In light of the findings of the research, it has been determined that in order to maintain forward momentum toward the Sustainable Development Goal, society as a whole must work to increase its knowledge of the importance of responsible consumption and production. Additionally, there is a need to create a balance between the goal and the company ROI, and the absence of uniform ESG standards, skills, and corporate capabilities all offer challenges to this course of action.
When Richard Liu founded JD.com in 2004, his vision was to build an online shopping hub that would benefit both manufacturers and consumers. With its original plan in place, JD.com has always focused on authenticity, honesty, and reliability. This practice continues with the e-commerce’s giant’s commitment to supporting sustainability and an eco-friendly infrastructure.
JD.com has since become one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies and a leading provider of supply chain-based technology and services. It is committed to working with both upstream and downstream partners, as well as the entire society, to build a world that is both more productive and more sustainable. To date, over 300,000 businesses have participated in the “Green Stream Initiative,” which is the name given to JD.com’s green supply chain initiatives. These enterprises are reducing their carbon footprint across the entire process, from packaging to warehousing, to transportation, product recycling, etc. On the demand side, the firm launched what it called the “Green Impact Initiative” in May 2022. This made it easier for its hundreds of millions of customers to recognize roughly a million different kinds of items on its platform by labeling them as environmentally friendly.
