According to www.aem.org, members of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) Sustainability Council convened in Kansas City on April 30, 2026, ahead of the association’s annual Product Safety & Stewardship Conference and Liability Seminar. The meeting was led by Sustainability Council Chair Tiffany Brand of The Toro Company and focused on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) benchmarking and storytelling, regulatory developments affecting the non-road equipment manufacturing industry, and strategies to advance sustainability engagement across AEM’s membership and the broader public.
Core Agenda Items
The council reviewed several priority initiatives, including:
- Potential outcomes and industry use cases for EHS benchmarking and storytelling, alongside details about a soon-to-be-launched initiative
- Plans to update and optimize AEM’s sustainability-related thought leadership content throughout the summer and into the fall
- Next steps for member-led efforts to grow supply chain success — building on the recent launch of AEM’s Human Rights Assessment template
Carbon Reporting and Rental Industry Engagement
The group also heard presentations from the American Rental Association (ARA) Vice President Tom Doyle and representatives from Sunbelt Rentals, United Rentals, and Herc Rentals. These stakeholders discussed challenges the rental industry faces in understanding and implementing Scopes 1, 2, and 3 carbon reporting — and emphasized collaborative development of common, consistent industry resources to support compliance and transparency.
Leadership Perspective
“AEM is committed to sparking ideas and advancing long-term priorities to help our members understand environmental compliance standards, evolving regulations, supply chain complexity, and more.” — John Somers, AEM Vice President of Construction and Utility, staff liaison for the AEM Sustainability Council
Somers added:
“AEM and its Sustainability Council are working to provide a framework that supports best practices for a more viable world.” — John Somers, AEM Vice President of Construction and Utility
AEM represents over 1,000 members across 200+ product lines, serving the agriculture, construction, mining, and utility equipment sectors. Its Sustainability Council functions as a member-driven forum to align industry action on EHS performance, regulatory readiness, and supply chain due diligence — notably following the rollout of its Human Rights Assessment template, a tool designed to support upstream accountability.
For global supply chain professionals, this signals growing cross-sector coordination on Scope 3 emissions tracking and human rights due diligence — particularly relevant for Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers serving North American equipment OEMs. The involvement of major rental firms (Sunbelt, United, Herc) underscores how downstream service providers are now driving upstream data demands, especially around standardized carbon accounting frameworks. With AEM actively soliciting member feedback to shape its sustainability roadmap, practitioners engaged with U.S.-based equipment manufacturers should anticipate expanded expectations for verified EHS metrics, supplier-level carbon disclosures, and alignment with emerging regulatory guardrails such as the EU’s CSDDD.
Source: www.aem.org
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
