Procurement as the Sustainability Business Leader

Few can deny the clear impact manmade climate change is having on the planet. It seems barely a day goes past before we are reading about some new extreme event, be it wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, or some other ecological disaster

The science is settled on the causes of this shift in global stability and the onus falls on industry leaders around the world to step up and make the necessary changes to mitigate the worst of its effects. Individual action will do little to help the situation unless those responsible for the worst of the pollution act alongside them.

The Scope of the Problem

We see a lot of brands bragging about their green credentials these days, saying they have reduced emissions by X-amount and so on. However, many of these claims can be misleading and obfuscate the worst excesses of industry emissions.

It all comes down to the Scope system which refers to where a business’s emissions actually come from. Scope 1 refers to the emissions that a business directly produces such as from fuel usage, company vehicles, fugitive emissions, etc. Scope 2 includes all indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the reporting company.

However, it’s Scope 3 which should concern us the most and it is the one that few brands include in their statistics when displaying their green credentials. Scope 3 consists of all other indirect emissions which occur within a company’s value chain and can include purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting, waste disposal, use of sold products, investments, leased assets and franchises, and transportation and distribution (up and downstream).

And it’s that last point which should draw the attention of those of us working in procurement. The impact our suppliers have on the environment is vicariously linked to the damage our own brand does directly.

Taking a Position of Leadership

Now we understand the full scope of the impact our companies can have on the world, and the figures we should be including in those headline grabbing emissions reports, we need to actually stand up and do something about it.

This can take the form of only collaborating with suppliers who take their own environmental responsibilities seriously. Alternatively, you can use your position as a procurement customer of these brands to work with them to improve their output and positively impact, not only their own emissions statistics, but yours as well.

It’s easy to see therefore how, if every company works with its suppliers, up and down the value chain, it will have a beneficial effect on the numbers for every link in the value chain. However, it takes someone to make the first move and start the process and this is what being a sustainability business leader truly means.

Final Thoughts

Scope 3 emissions are potentially the most numerous in any company’s value chain and each link needs to collaborate with suppliers and procurers to make sure everything is being done to reduce them as much as possible, report the complete picture, and create a new era of trust, transparency, and sustainability.