Sustainable Value Chains & Procurement
Index
Note: CEF is actively updating an ecosystem map of notable standards, initiatives, and resources pertaining to sustainability topics across global value chains. The resource is listed under "Special Research & Reports" on the CEF Publications & Meetings Archive page.
Notable News
Business Commitments and Targets
Business Actions, Accomplishments and Partnerships
Research
State of Sustainable Supply Chains & Procurement
State of Fair and Responsible Trade
State of Materials and Minerals
Tools
Supplier Decarbonization Resources
Sustainable Textiles and Apparel Guidance
Collaboration
Collaborative Efforts to Accelerate Supply Chain Sustainability
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Notable News
MARS, INC. — Shared an aim to achieve a physically segregated global cocoa supply chain by 2030. With a segregated supply chain, the company will be able to make products using only cocoa from its Responsibly Sourced Cocoa Program or cocoa certified by other certification bodies. Through this, Mars aims to better support suppliers, farmers, and farming organizations producing responsible cocoa, and will work closely with suppliers to invest in new infrastructure over the next five years to support responsible cocoa production and use in Mars products. (Jan 2025)
CanopyStyle / Pack4Good — 15 companies committed to end sourcing from “Ancient and Endangered Forests” in their textile and packaging supply chains, as part of the CanopyStyle and the Pack4Good initiatives. These additions bring the total brands in CanopyStyle to 566 and in Pack4Good to 444. (April 2024)
NOKIA — Accelerated its net zero target across its entire value chain by ten years to 2040. The company will also accelerate the decarbonization of its operations (Scope 1 and 2), including “the complete decarbonization” of its car fleet and facilities, strengthening its 2030 target of halving Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions (from a 2019 baseline). This includes using 100% renewable electricity in its facilities by 2025 (up from 63% in 2022) and 95% circularity for operational waste by 2030. (March 2024)
PUMA — Committed to sourcing all bovine leather from verified deforestation-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier. The company has signed on to the Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather, which aims to create deforestation-free leather supply chains, protect wildlife habitat and biodiversity, preserve carbon stocks, and protect human rights. Puma’s commitment comes three months after the European Parliament required companies to guarantee that products sold in the EU do not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in their supply chains. (July 2023)
IBERDROLA — Announced that for the period of 2023-2025, the company will require more than 85% of its purchases are made from suppliers that comply with ESG criteria, which will promote best practices in 20,000 suppliers, from which the company made purchases worth €17.8 billion ($19.8 billion) in 2022. This raises the target set in 2021, in which 70% of its main suppliers from which it made purchases of at least €1 million met the company’s ESG criteria. Iberdrola also set up a mechanism to help suppliers meet these requirements, with more than half of the 1,000 suppliers who used the mechanism qualifying at the end of 2022, bringing the total of main suppliers who were sustainable to 77%. (April 2023)
AHOLD DELHAIZE — International food retailer Ahold Delhaize committed to an updated interim CO2 emissions reduction target for its entire value chain (Scope 3) of at least 37% by 2030 (from a 2020 baseline), aiming for net-zero by 2050. This follows its previous commitment to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions to net-zero by 2040, with an interim target of a 50% reduction by 2030. The three areas of reducing Scope 3 emissions will be focused on: engaging the company’s suppliers and farmers to reduce their emissions; increasing the number of low-carbon products sold (such as plant-based proteins); and supporting customers to make low-carbon choices. (Dec 2022)
SMI HEALTH SYSTEMS TASK FORCE — Seven pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Roche, Samsung Biologics, and Sanofi announced joint action to reduce emissions in the near-term and accelerate the delivery of net zero health systems. This effort comes through the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Task Force. Efforts include setting common supplier standards to incentivize decarbonization efforts across the supply chain, jointly pursuing renewable power purchase agreements, particularly in China and India in 2023, transitioning car fleets to zero-emissions vehicles by 2030, and exploring green transportation corridors by 2025. (Nov 2022)
APPLE — Called on its global supply chain to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and take a comprehensive approach to decarbonization. The company will evaluate the work of its major manufacturing partners to decarbonize their Apple-related operations, aiming to be carbon neutral across its supply chain by 2030. More than 200 of Apple’s suppliers, representing 70% of Apple’s direct manufacturing spend, have committed to using clean power for all Apple production. Apple also announced three new projects through its Restore Fund, a carbon removal initiative, which will remove 1 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2025. (Oct 2022)
NESTLÉ — Announced the launch of its Nescafé Plan 2030, outlining the company’s coffee brand’s plan to improve the sustainability of coffee farming, and help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture practices. This plan builds off its 2021 commitment to achieve 100% responsibly sourced coffee by 2025 adding that 20% of coffee sourced will be from regenerative agricultural methods by 2025 and 50% by 2030. (Oct 2022)
JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP (JLP) — JLP, one of the UK’s largest private companies, launched its “Plan for Nature,” which includes (Oct 2022):
- A new pledge to eliminate deforestation in the supply chains of all key commodities for its private label products;
- Ensuring all key raw materials in its private label products are from recycled or sustainable sources by 2025, including timber, cotton, soya, palm oil, cocoa and cashmere, and by 2028 for polyester, leather and man-made cellulosic fibers;
- A goal to bring agricultural process emissions at its Leckford farm to net-zero by 2024 and apply learnings from this transition across its supply chain.
BAT —British American Tobacco published a roadmap to halve Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions across its value chain by 2030 (from a 2020 baseline) and reach net zero by 2050 at the latest. It also committed to using 30% renewable energy in direct energy by 2025 and 100% by 2030. (Oct 2022)
ØRSTED —Danish energy company Ørsted announced it expects all of its suppliers to use 100% renewable electricity by 2025, expanding on a previous target covering only strategic suppliers. It expects suppliers to do this by investing in on-site renewables, entering power purchase agreements, or buying renewable electricity certificates. (Aug 2022)
THE HOME DEPOT — Announced a goal to increase spending on Tier 1 diverse suppliers to $5 billion annually by 2025, up 52% from the $3.3 billion it spent in 2021. (Aug 2022)
ASTON MARTIN — Launched a “Racing.Green.” sustainability strategy that includes ambitions for net-zero manufacturing facilities by 2030, a 30% reduction in supply chain emissions by 2030 (2020 baseline), and net-zero emissions across its entire supply chain by 2039. (April 2022)
METLIFE ― Announced that it will commit more than $2.5 billion to deliver on a broad set of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments by 2030. Key elements include (March 2022):
- $1 billion in investments (incl. $100 million deployed in 2021) that advance firms owned by women, minorities, and disabled persons.
- Plans to reach $5 billion in direct spending with diverse suppliers ― an increase of $1.6 billion from the amount MetLife’s Supplier Inclusion and Development Program has committed to date.
- Allocation of 800,000 employee volunteer hours with a focus on DEI/underserved communities.
LOUIS DREYFUS COMPANY (LDC) — Committed to eliminating deforestation and native-vegetation conversion for agricultural purposes from its supply chains by year-end 2025. LDC plans to report regularly on progress and conduct supply chain risk assessments to prioritize high-risk areas. (Feb 2022)
NESTLÉ — Committed to tripling its annual spend on cocoa supply chain sustainability to approximately $1.4 billion by 2030 in order to reduce the environmental impact of all cocoa-farming families in its global supply chain, improve traceability, and tackle gender inequality and child labor. It will also launch an income accelerator program that offers farmers financial incentives for enrolling children in school and engaging in agroforestry activities. Payments will be transferred directly to farmers and divided evenly between the male and female heads of household. (Jan 2022)
STARBUCKS — Committed to spending $1.5 billion “with diverse suppliers” annually by 2030, up from nearly $800 million in FY21. It also committed to launching a Leadership Accelerator Program this summer to increase diversity in the Starbucks leadership pipeline, allocating 15% of its advertising budget toward minority-owned and targeted media companies in the next year, and launching a free, open-source toolkit for “diverse-owned entrepreneurs” on “how to run a successful business.” (Jan 2022)
List of Business Commitments & Targets, 2021-2019 (PDF)
Business Actions, Accomplishments & Partnerships
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IKEA — Is expanding its program to support suppliers accessing more renewable energy sources to 14 additional markets, including the U.S. This expands the renewable electricity program (launched in 2021) to 27 markets and over 91% of CO2 emissions from electricity used in production. (Feb 2025)
DEUTSCHE BANK / BASF — Announced that Deutsche Bank has launched a new sustainability-linked payables finance program aimed at motivating BASF’s suppliers to adopt sustainable practices. The program will offer preferential interest rates to suppliers of BASF’s operations in China to progressively improve sustainability performance (as measured by EcoVadis). (Aug 2024)
THE LEGO GROUP— Launched a new Supplier Sustainability Programme to address its Scope 3 emissions (which make up 99% of its total emissions). Key suppliers requirements include: providing specific data on emissions associated with products and services purchased by The LEGO Group; setting near term reduction targets for these products and services; and collaborating to develop actions suppliers need to take to meet their reduction goals. (July 2024)
AMAZON —Has identified the highest-emitting suppliers directly supporting its operations (which collectively contribute over 50% of the company’s Scope 3 emissions) and shared in its 2023 Sustainability Report that it expects them to provide a plan to decarbonize over time. The company noted it will prioritize its business toward those suppliers that provide plans and results toward net zero emissions. (July 2024)
HENKEL — Launched a new initiative to engage suppliers worldwide on recording and reducing Scope 3 emissions. This “Climate Connect” program will provide support for partners through data collection, trainings, and jointly defined actions for decarbonization. (April 2024)
INDITEX
—
Sent a letter to the sustainability certification initiative for cotton, Better Cotton, demanding more clarity and progress on traceability practices, according to Reuters. This comes after accusations against two Brazilian certified cotton producers by NGO Earthsight of land grabbing, deforestation, and violence against local communities. (April 2024)
NESTLÉ — Launched two projects with Cargill and ETG | Beyond Beans to reduce and remove carbon emissions from its supply chains. These five-year projects will provide shade trees to cocoa farmers to help improve water management, enhance biodiversity, and sequester carbon. They aim to plant over two million trees on land managed by almost 20,000 farmers in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. (March 2024)
WALMART — Announced its suppliers have avoided or sequestered one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in product value chains six years earlier than targeted. Through this “Project Gigaton,” launched in 2017, 5,900 of Walmart’s suppliers have implemented a series of efficiency, redesign, and waste reduction projects. (Feb 2024)
H&M GROUP — Developed a collaborative finance tool, in which its suppliers get access to financing from financial services group DBS and technical support from sustainability consultant Guidehouse, to implement factory upgrades that reduce their climate impact. (Dec 2023)
AB INBEV — Partnered with South Pole to establish a renewable electricity group buying initiative for its customers and suppliers across Europe. By providing partners with a network to source Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), AB InBev aims to support its value chain’s decarbonization and address its Scope 3 emissions (85% of total emissions in 2022). (Dec 2023)
DHL SUPPLY CHAIN — Launched a Green Transport Policy, to set a global sustainability standard for its transport fleet and reduce carbon emissions. This includes transitioning around 2,000 of its vehicles to greener alternatives, and investing €200 million ($217 million) in fossil fuel alternatives over the next three years to reduce CO2 emissions by 300,000 metric tons. (Nov 2023)
NESTLÉ — Announced it is piloting a weather insurance program in Indonesia for more than 800 smallholder coffee farmers that supply coffee to its brand Nescafé. The insurance provides financial protection to help farmers cope with unpredictable weather patterns of rainfall and severe drought and is being launched in collaboration with climate insurance specialist Blue Marble. (Oct 2023)
CBRE — Announced a strategic partnership with carbon accounting software provider Emitwise to collect greenhouse gas emissions data from its supply chain and provide carbon accounting capabilities to its suppliers. This will enable suppliers to calculate more accurate carbon impacts and learn where to focus efforts to accelerate decarbonization, while CBRE clients will gain access to more accurate emissions data and to high-impact decarbonization opportunities.
Smart Freight Centre (SFC) Exchange Network — Published a Proof of Concept (PoC) Evaluation Report, a first step in establishing the SFC Exchange Network to promote data sharing between transport value chain actors and increase carbon transparency. The report assessed three key criteria: the feasibility of technical implementation, peer-to-peer data exchange, and willingness to share data. It also explored options for future governance and assurance frameworks. The results show the need for future efforts in the industry and the PoC “provided a momentum and promising results to continue towards a full build.” CEF members Amazon and Dow are participants and contributors, and CEF member McKinsey is a knowledge partner. (Aug 2023)
H&M — Announced it has decided to gradually stop sourcing from Myanmar, following a “responsible exit framework,” due to increasing reports of labor abuses in garment factories. (Aug 2023)
SAP — Is establishing a supply chain engagement program by 2024 for key suppliers to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions along the company’s upstream value chain. SAP plans to work with its top 100 suppliers to report and record product-level emissions and aims to have those suppliers report their company-wide emissions and product-level emissions for relevant key products by 2027, allowing SAP to report emissions based on actuals instead of averages. (July 2023)
AMAZON — Announced that beginning in 2024, the company will update its Supply Chain Standards “to require regular reporting and emissions goal setting” of suppliers. The company said it will use its scale, investment, and innovation to date to provide suppliers with products and tools to help them reach their goals, including helping select suppliers transition to carbon-free electricity. (July 2023)
CDP / VODAFONE — Developed a framework to encourage Vodafone’s suppliers to reduce their own carbon emissions. Suppliers will be invited to fill out the framework, consisting of 12 criteria from CDP’s annual survey, and will receive preferential financing rates based on their ranking. CDP plans to make the framework template available to other telecom companies in the future to expand adoption of this model. (April 2023)
ZURICH — Zurich Insurance Group announced it is providing tools and resources to help its suppliers decarbonize their operations. Zurich is providing climate training materials and offering free access to the Business Carbon Calculator by carbon accounting firm Normative. These will help suppliers calculate their carbon footprints and learn how to take practical steps to reduce emissions. (April 2023)
IKEA — Announced it will include ten additional markets in its program to support its suppliers to switch to renewable electricity. These markets represent 13% of IKEA’s climate footprint from production. Supported by IKEA, the program enables direct suppliers to purchase 100% renewable electricity such as through Power Purchase Agreements, or develop onsite renewable energy with financing. Through its initial efforts in China, Poland, and India, IKEA reduced its climate footprint 5% and doubled the share of renewable electricity in China from 32% in 2021, to 64% in 2022. (Feb 2023)
TESCO — Unveiled Tesco Exchange, a new online marketplace for its more than 3,500 suppliers. This matches suppliers who have too much of a product, such as crops, byproducts, ingredients or packaging, with other suppliers that need it. This exchange will help cut production costs and reduce waste. (Dec 2022)
FORD — Announced a strategic partnership with Manufacture 2030 (M2030), an organization that works with suppliers to measure, manage and reduce carbon emissions. As a first phase, Ford is offering the voluntary M2030 platform to its more than 5,000 Tier 1 global suppliers, to help identify actions they can take to measure, manage, and reduce emissions, and reduce costs as they build carbon neutrality plans. (Dec 2022)
Building Sustainable Supply Chains (WHC (Wildlife Habitat Council)) — This new white paper by WHC explores how corporations at every tier of the supply chain are recognizing they must address biodiversity and climate risks. With impacts varied, no one approach to integrating biodiversity will work for all companies across the supply chain, the report finds, but locally appropriate, nature-positive actions that align with larger sustainability goals can help corporations address these risks. The report includes nine case studies, including CEF member WM. (Nov 2022)
MONDELĒZ — Pledged to spend an additional $600 million by 2030 on its “Cocoa Life” program to combat child labor, farmer poverty, and deforestation in cocoa production. This will bring the company’s total spending on cocoa sustainability to $1 billion since 2012. Mondelēz has also expanded its goal to work with 300,000 farmers in the program by 2030. In the first ten years of Cocoa Life, farmer net incomes have risen as have cocoa yields. (Oct 2022)
ARLA — Introduced a major new financial incentive model to reward farmers for making environmental improvements: the company will pay farmers up to four eurocents more per kilo of milk they produce based on their environmental reporting and action. This translates into a potential €500 million distribution to farmers annually. The incentive model is based on farmer performance on 19 “levers,” such as feed and fertilizer efficiency, biodiversity protection, low carbon farming practices, and renewable energy. (Oct 2022)
JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) — Is inviting its global supply network to commit to sustainability targets approved by the SBTi to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and help achieve net zero emissions in JLR’s supply chain, products, and operations by 2039. JLR’s Tier 1 suppliers are a priority group and JLR will ask these companies to set their own decarbonization targets and report regularly, publicly, and transparently on their progress. (Sept 2022)
GSK — Biopharma company GSK launched a Sustainable Procurement program that will require and support suppliers to take action on carbon, power, heat, transport, water, waste, and sustainable deforestation-free sourcing of materials. Specific areas of action include disclosing emissions; setting carbon reduction targets; switching to renewable energy; achieving water neutrality in water stressed areas; waste reductions of 10%; aligning to the company’s responsible sourcing minimum standards; and, for transport suppliers, providing green transport solutions. (Sept 2022)
COCA-COLA EUROPACIFIC PARTNERS (CCEP) / RABOBANK — CCEP implemented a new sustainability-linked supply chain finance program, operated and funded by Rabobank, a food and agriculture specialist bank. The program will incentivize suppliers to make sustainability improvements and help CCEP reduce GHG emissions across its supply chain by 30% by 2030 (compared to 2019) and achieve net zero by 2040. (Aug 2022)
REDWOOD MATERIALS / TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA (“Toyota”) — Announced a partnership to develop a "closed-loop" US supply chain for Toyota electric vehicle batteries that includes collection, recycling, refurbishment, and remanufacturing of large-scale sources of EV battery materials. Redwood plans to increase its annual recovery of anode and cathode components from end-of-life batteries from its current capacity of 6 GWh to 100 GWh by 2025 and 500 GWh—enough to power 5 million EVs—by 2030. The increase will be driven largely by this new partnership, creating end-of-life pathways for Toyota hybrids and EVs into Redwood’s recycling pipeline, starting with the first mass-produced hybrids that are now at or approaching 20 years old. The recovered materials will the feed back into Toyota’s battery manufacturing process. (June 2022)
GENERAL MOTORS (GM) — Invited suppliers to sign a new Environmental, Social and Governance Partnership Pledge, designed to encourage an “Everyone In” supply chain approach toward the advancement of shared ESG goals. Described by sustainability ratings agency EcoVadis as a “best practice example of how to work with suppliers,” the pledge commits signatory companies to (May 2022):
- Achieve Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon neutrality by industry-specific deadlines, the latest of which is 2038 for raw materials and logistics.
- By 2025, attain a score of at least 50 (“Good”) from EcoVadis in their Labor & Human Rights and Ethics evaluations
- By 2025, attain a score of at least 50 in EcoVadis’s Sustainable Procurement evaluation, ensuring that acceptable practices are in place with GM’s first tier of indirect suppliers as well.
WALMART —
Announced
it was more halfway to accomplishing “Project Gigaton,” an initiative to
reduce or avoid 1 billion metric tons of GHG emissions from product supply chains by 2030. Since its inception in 2017, over 4,500 suppliers have cumulatively reported 574 million metric tons of reduced or avoided emissions. (April 2022)
UNILEVER / SAP — CEF member Unilever announced a successful proof of concept using GreenToken by SAP, a blockchain-based chain of custody solution, to track more than 188,000 tons of oil palm fruit through its complex supply chain. Unilever has committed to achieving a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023. (March 2022)
SIEMENS —
Siemens’ Smart Infrastructure (SI) and Financial Services businesses launched a new $100 million loan program called
“Kickstarter Capital” to help small- and medium-sized businesses decarbonize. Participating companies will consult with Siemens technology and finance experts to develop “a custom end-to-end decarbonization roadmap” that integrates SI’s “sustainable-oriented products, solutions, and services.” (March 2022)
HP INC. — Is expanding its HP Amplify™ Impact program (launched in 2020) to 24 additional countries in Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Japan (43 countries total) to help an additional 10,000 HP partners drive impact on climate change, human rights, and the digital divide. Partners who join the program receive assessments, resources, and training, as well as access to the new HP Amplify Impact Initiatives Hub that offers Carbon Footprint and 360 Diversity Equity & Inclusion assessments. To date, HP has enrolled 20% of its partners (over 1,400) in the program—double its first-year goal. (Feb 2022)
List of Business Action, Accomplishments & Partnerships, 2021-2019 (PDF)
Research & Trends
State of Sustainable Supply Chains & Procurement
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State of Supply Chain Sustainability 2024 (MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) — Highlights how supply chain sustainability practices have evolved over the past five years, assessing their global implementation and implications for industries, professionals, and the environment. Based on surveys of over 7,000 supply chain professionals, the report finds that pressure from investors to improve supply chain sustainability has grown 25%, making this the fastest-growing driver of sustainability efforts. It also finds that 67% of firms surveyed do not have a net-zero goal in place and those that do are often unprepared to meet these goals. This is especially the case with measuring and reducing Scope 3 emissions, which account for an average of 75% of a company’s overall emissions, but are difficult to track and manage, due to the complexity of supplier networks and inconsistent data-sharing practices. (Oct 2024)
Strengthening the Chain: Industry insights to accelerate sustainable supply chain transformation(CDP) — Companies that actively manage supply chain (Scope 3) emissions have saved $13.6 billion in costs, according to this new analysis of CDP’s Supply Chain Program. Collaboration between buyers and suppliers delivered 43 million metric tons (MMT) of greenhouse gas reductions in 2023.However, only 15% of companies are targeting their supply chains with emission reduction initiatives. Investing in reducing upstream climate risks could save 193 MMT of CO2 equivalent and provide $165 billion in potential financial gains, 76% more than the $94 billion required to realize these opportunities. (Sept 2024)
Time for Transparency: Deforestation- and conversion-free supply chains (Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) and CDP) — Examines 1,498 global commodity supply chains using analysis of company disclosures and finds that only 66 are free of deforestation. This includes 31 for timber products, 15 for palm oil, 9 for soy, 6 for cattle, 3 for cocoa, and 1 each for coffee and rubber. In total, 881 companies disclosed through CDP on at least one commodity supply chain (for a total of 1,498 disclosures). About half (445) disclosed on deforestation- and conversion-free progress, however, only 186 companies (21%) provided clear information to justify their claims. And just 7% (64 companies) made a high-quality disclosure and reported that at least one commodity supply chain was 100% deforestation- or conversion-free. (May 2024)
Reducing GHG emissions grew in priority for 44% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and maintained the same level of priority for 53%, according to a survey of 7,600 SMEs in 25 sectors by SME Climate Hub. SMEs are facing an 11% increase in pressure from shareholders, investors, and customers to take climate action. 62% of respondents said reducing emissions had enhanced business reputation, 53% said it had increased business differentiation; and 30% said it had won them new customers. However, while 73% said they need additional funding to start or accelerate climate action, 84% said they had not been offered any financial incentives to reduce their emissions. (April 2024)
Sustainable Procurement Barometer 2024 (EcoVadis and Accenture) — Surveyed 592 buyers and 1,087 suppliers to gain insights into the state of sustainable procurement, including trends around procurement priorities, sustainability monitoring tools, supplier engagement, and internal process integration. Key findings (Feb 2024):
- More than 70% of companies say “delivering on corporate sustainability goals and commitments” is a top procurement driver.
- Only half of companies have visibility into 50% or more of their Tier 1 suppliers, and just a quarter have 50% or more visibility into their Tier 2 suppliers.
- While 50-60% of respondents have some form of manual or digital integration of ESG into key procurement processes, only 30% of these integrations are reported as being “very” or “extremely effective.”
- Digital integration of ESG (e.g. via API) averages just 10% across procurement processes.
2024 State of Procurement Data Report (Amazon Business) — Examines the state of business-to-business (B2B) procurement, surveying 3,108 procurement decision-makers. Key findings (Nov 2023):
- 81% have mandates to buy from certified sellers. Of those that do not, 40% still take supplier ESG factors into consideration.
- 85% said the difficulty in sourcing suppliers that follow sustainable practices prevents their companies from achieving sustainability goals for procurement.
- 53% of procurement teams expect their budgets to increase in 2024.
- 98% said they were planning investments in analytics and insight tools, automation, and AI over the next few years.
2023 Global Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Survey (Deloitte) — With unprecedented levels of supply chain disruption, the role of Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) “has never been more complex,” as this twelfth annual report surveying almost 350 procurement leaders from more than 40 countries finds. The survey finds that high-achieving CPOs are using this volatility to their advantage, recruiting new talent, accelerating digital transformation efforts, and shifting operational models to serve as “orchestrators of value.” The report finds that orchestrators, who build teams that work effectively with business unit leaders, functional partners, and suppliers, have a 25% performance advantage over their peers. The report also found that from 2021, top priorities shifted for CPOs, with cost reduction dropping from second place and enhancing ESG/CSR jumping from seventh to second on the list. Operational efficiency remained in first place and digital transformation went from third to tying for second with Enhancing ESG/CSR. Orchestrators of value were found to be three times more likely than their peers to be involved in digital transformation. (July 2023)
The Small Business Climate Action: Barriers and Bridges (SME Climate Hub) — Found that 80% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) surveyed are taking climate action, even though 77% have not been asked by customers to reduce emissions. This second annual survey of SME business leaders from 40 countries and over 20 industries also found that 70% of respondents lacked funds and 58% lacked the skills and knowledge to take more ambitious climate actions. 65% of SME leaders took action believing this differentiated their businesses from competitors and 73% to enhance the reputation of their businesses. 60% of respondents also reported having encouraged other businesses to make the SME Climate Commitment (to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050). (Feb 2023)
EY 2022 Supply Chain Sustainability Report (Ernst & Young LLP (EY US)) — This new report, which surveyed 525 large corporations across a variety of sectors in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States, finds that 80% of senior supply chain executives are increasing their emphasis on ESG initiatives. However, one-third lack a business case to support sustainable supply chain development. In addition, nearly 20% have no sustainability strategy. Among top motivators of improving supply chain sustainability, 61% of respondents noted cost savings, 51% regulatory compliance, 41% pressure from partners and suppliers, and 26% pressure from customers. The report also outlines five recommendations to improve supply chain sustainability, including creating goals, improving visibility and traceability, expanding the business case, setting priorities, and leveraging incentives. (Oct 2022)
Stockholm Synthesis Report (WBCSD) — Synthesizes the views of companies and international organizations on how to transform six key global value chains: mobility, electronics, built environment, fashion and textiles, food and agriculture, and travel and tourism. The report offers strategies to address these six value chains based on a multi-stakeholder consultative process. (Sept 2022)
Measuring Progress Towards a Sustainable Palm Oil Supply Chain (CDP) — This fourth report iteration reviews the latest corporate performance in separating palm oil sourcing and production from deforestation in Indonesia. Found that only 22% of the 167 companies that self-reported sourcing or producing palm oil in Indonesia have implemented public and comprehensive no deforestation policies. Key findings include (Aug 2022):
- Only 2% of companies producing or sourcing palm oil in Indonesia are using “deforestation-free compliant third party verified schemes” covering 90% of their production.
- 87% of companies have implemented traceability systems. However, only a quarter have the capacity to scale these to 90% of their production and consumption at least to the municipality level.
- Only 35% of companies are providing financial and technical assistance to direct suppliers and only 53% are engaging beyond first tier suppliers.
- Only 14% of companies are involved in “jurisdictional” or landscape approaches to reduce deforestation from their operations. This increased from 8% in 2020.
Solar PV Global Supply Chains (International Energy Agency (IEA)) — Makes the case for diversification of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) supply chains to lessen market vulnerability as demand increases. China’s share of key component global production of key solar PV components is approaching 95%, and the country controls most of the key mineral production as well. While China is the most cost-competitive producer in the world, it also has a history of human rights abuses related to labor and is highly subject to tariffs to discourage dumping and other trade violations. To counter the market vulnerability posed by such concentrated reliance on China, the report’s authors present a roadmap focused on five key policy action areas (July 2022):
- Diversify manufacturing and raw material supplies.
- De-risk PV manufacturing investment.
- Ensure environmental and social sustainability.
- Continue to foster innovation.
- Develop and strengthen recycling capabilities.
On the 5th anniversary of the ISO 20400 standard, which provides guidelines for integrating sustainability into an organization’s procurement processes, ratings agency EcoVadis identified several trends in sustainable procurement, both signs of progress and areas for improvement (May 2022):
- Among the 29,619 companies assessed in 2021, almost 28% had a supplier code of conduct in place, compared to just 13% in 2016. Furthermore, nearly 20% contractually obligated their suppliers to adhere to social and environmental clauses, compared to just 12% in 2016.
- Sustainable procurement policies and assessments are also increasing: 6% of assessed companies integrated measures into their management systems in 2021, a 4-point rise since 2016 and regular supplier assessments were conducted in 30% of cases in 2021, up 10%.
- In contrast, companies have been slow to support suppliers in building due diligence capacity on environmental or social issues, and to obtain specific sustainable procurement certifications.
ECOVADIS 2022 SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT LEADERSHIP AWARD WINNERS — EcoVadis announced the 2022 winners of its Sustainable Procurement Leadership Awards program, which recognizes companies “[driving] positive environmental and social change through their sustainable procurement initiatives.” Winners include CEF member Schneider Electric (Best Value Chain Engagement) and Unilever (Best Portfolio Performance Improvement). (March 2022)
CDP Global Supply Chain Report 2021 (CDP, in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group) — Analyzes the environmental data disclosed by over 200 companies in the CDP Supply Chain program and their suppliers in 2021. The companies requested that 23,487 suppliers disclose their current and future risks and opportunities related to climate change, forests, and water security through CDP (a 50% increase over 2020), resulting in a record 11,400 responses. The report concludes that supply chain companies are “failing to set targets” and there is an “urgent need for companies to cascade measurement and action down the entire supply chain.” Key findings (Feb 2022):
- Suppliers reduced their emissions by 1.8 billion tons of CO2e, saving $29 billion
- 71% of suppliers reported their Scope 1 and 2 emissions
- 56% of suppliers didn’t have any climate targets, and only 1 out of every 40 have approved science-based targets
- At the current pace, “At least another decade is required to ensure that all suppliers reporting in 2021 set any climate target”
- Only 38%, 47%, and 16% of the 200 CDP Supply Chain companies are engaging with their suppliers on climate change, deforestation, and water security, respectively
List of State of Sustainable Supply Chains & Procurement, 2021-2019 (PDF)
State of Fair & Responsible Trade
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Assessing the Impact of Fairtrade on Poverty Reduction and Economic Resilience through Rural Development (Mainlevel Consulting on behalf of Fair Trade Germany and Fair Trade Austria) — Assesses how Fairtrade certification has impacted four areas: economic resilience, social well-being, good governance and environmental integrity. Examining the past decade, it focuses on Fairtrade certified and non-certified Small Producer Organizations (SPOs) in three product settings: cocoa in Central Ghana, banana in Northern Peru, and coffee in Central Peru. Key takeaways from the report include (June 2022):
- Fairtrade Standards, Fairtrade pricing and producer support programs positively impact certified farmers and their communities, economically and in terms of stronger governance, greater transparency, and democratic decision-making.
- Despite benefits, many of the gains have been undercut in recent years due to the challenges of COVID-19, climate change, and increasing costs of production, especially related to farmers’ incomes and farm investments.
- Nine improvements are recommended targeting SPOs, Fairtrade Regional Networks, as well as Fairtrade Germany and Austria.
‘The Energy of Freedom’?: Solar Energy, Modern Slavery, and the Just Transition
(University of Nottingham)
—
Urges the solar industry to address concerns about slave labor in its supply chain—specifically,
polysilicon (for photovoltaics) from China’s Xinjiang Uyger Autonomous Region and
cobalt (for lithium-ion batteries) from Democratic Republic of Congo. The report presents (April 2022):
- A new model for estimating forced labor risk in the solar energy value chain.
- Key areas of consideration for the development of a roadmap to transition global solar production to be forced-labor free: Human rights due diligence; Opportunities for leverage; Withdrawal from markets with high forced labor risk; Treatment of suppliers selling both high-risk and low-risk products; New supply planning; Remedy for harm done.
Tackling Child Labor: An Introduction for Business Leaders (WBCSD and UNICEF) — Provides the latest data and insights on global issues of child labor and articulates tangible steps companies can take to support the elimination of child labor in business operations and supply chains. (Dec 2021)
GoodWeave International released a series of briefs on 5 ways companies and NGOs can combat child labor in sectors and supply chains.
(July 2021)
State of Materials & Minerals
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Conflict Minerals: 2022 Company Reports on Mineral Sources Were Similar to Those Filed in Prior Years (U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)) — Finds that company inquiry results on the origin of conflict minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold) used in their products have not changed much since 2015. In 2022, 51% of companies initially determined that their conflict minerals may have come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or adjoining countries, up from 49% in 2015. Of those companies that went on to perform due diligence, 53% were unable to make a final determination on conflict mineral origins. Many companies used standardized tools and programs, including supplier surveys, smelter and refiner audit programs, and traceability schemes, to attempt to determine the source of their minerals. However, some companies experienced challenges, including difficulties getting needed information because of lack of access to suppliers and complex supply chains. The report notes some companies may be reporting incomplete information, or not filing at all, because of a perception that they are unlikely to face enforcement action by the SEC if they do not comply with the conflict minerals disclosure requirements. Other companies are voluntarily expanding reporting, including to additional minerals (e.g. cobalt) and to other regions. (July 2023)
Supply Chain Traceability: Looking Beyond Greenhouse Gases (RMI) — Examines the growth in mining and mineral processing as decarbonization significantly increases the need for critical minerals. The report illustrates how industry can differentiate between responsibly produced minerals and their counterparts and maps out a path forward, minimizing “nonfungible” damages that cannot be offset, such as child labor. Specifically, recommendations include deploying and strengthening product-level standards to drive commodity differentiation; deploy tracking technology to enable traceability; aggregate demand with buyers’ alliances; mobilize investors with investors’ coalitions; and tighten regulations and leverage public procurement. (Nov 2022)
The price of battery materials has skyrocketed in 2021 following rising demand for EVs, with lithium carbonate prices doubling and cobalt hydroxide prices rising over 40%, according to research firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. The firm forecasts the lithium market will fall into deficit in 2022. (Aug 2021)
The U.S. Department of Energy released a
"National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries" to guide private and public investments in the creation of a U.S. lithium battery manufacturing value chain. (June 2021)
The Responsible Business Alliance’s Responsible Minerals Initiative released ESG Standards for all mineral supply chains. The new standards include environmental criteria, occupational health and safety provisions, social obligations, and governance requirements. (June 2021)
The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions (IEA) — Comprehensively reviews global clean energy demand for minerals, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements. Recommends 6 policy areas of action to maximize mineral security and ensure critical minerals enable an accelerated transition to clean energy rather than becoming a bottleneck. Additional coverage by Axios. (May 2021)
Identifying Low Carbon Sources of Cotton and Polyester Fibers
(UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action) — Identifies opportunities for the fashion industry to transition towards sustainable, low-carbon production by detailing methods to sustainably source cotton and polyester.
(May 2021)
Tools and Resources
Sustainable Procurement Tools
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Green Purchase Toolkit (The Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) and the WBCSD Center for Decarbonization Demand Acceleration (CDDA)) — Delivers practical guidance to help businesses procure low-carbon products and support the decarbonization of heavy industry and long-range transport sectors. It provides overviews of six market mechanisms, and outlines challenges and opportunities associated with each mechanism. Mechanisms include offtake agreements, buyers alliances, chain of custody, green market makers, closed loop offtake, and insurance solutions (with more “emerging mechanisms” potentially being added in the future). The Toolkit also offers real-world case studies to illustrate the mechanisms’ successful implementation. (Nov 2024)
PCF Verification Framework Version 1.0 (Catena-X and Together for Sustainability (TFS)) — This framework is designed to enhance the credibility and effectiveness of Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data across the automotive and chemical supply chains. It aims to establish a common approach ensuring the trustworthiness of PCF data exchanged across supply chains. It introduces three levels of trust (entry-level, certification, and independent verification), each with specific procedures, scopes, and guidance for both verifiers and companies seeking verification. (Aug 2024)
Harmonized Responsible Sourcing Framework for Recycled Plastics (The Circulate Initiative) — This framework is the first global effort to establish a unified, actionable set of indicators for buyers of recycled plastics to implement responsible supply chain practices. It will enable companies to more efficiently evaluate and address human rights conditions in the recycled plastics supply chain and meet growing regulators’ demands. Indicators focus on five themes, including economic empowerment, health and safety, autonomy and inclusion, collective representation, and gender equality, and include both “minimum” and “advanced” indicators. The framework was developed through consultation with over 40 organizations across the value chain, including the informal sector and waste pickers (who contribute to nearly 60% of global recycling efforts). (June 2024)
AFi e-learning platform (Accountability Framework initiative (AFi)) — This free online training platform aims to help companies learn how to achieve sustainable supply chains for forestry and agricultural commodities, free from deforestation, conversion, and human rights violations. It offers five educational modules including: an introduction to the Accountability Framework; setting supply chain goals; establishing company systems; managing commodity production; and managing supply chains. Additional modules are being developed. (April 2024)
Sustainable Procurement Resource Wheel (Embedding Project) — This interactive tool helps companies embed sustainability across their procurement and supply chain practices. It identifies key sustainable procurement practices and a selection of relevant resources and tools to help in implementation. Along with resources divided by topic (divided into seven broad categories), the wheel also provides case studies to illustrate sustainable procurement practices. (Nov 2023)
Electric Vehicle Batteries: A Guidebook for Responsible Corporate Engagement Throughout the Supply Chain (Ceres) — Highlights how corporate advocacy and procurement practices within the EV battery supply chain can have the greatest impact in shaping a responsible electric vehicle (EV) industry. The guidebook recommends that (Sept 2023):
- Fleet owners and vehicle manufacturers prioritize battery minerals sourced from Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)-certified mining operators and advocate for U.S mining reform that includes the remediation of abandoned mines and the implementation of royalties for local communities.
- Fleet owners and vehicle manufacturers prioritize EVs and batteries designed for second-life use and recyclability. Manufacturers should also participate in extended producer responsibility initiatives and establish partnerships for second-life usage and recycling.
- Companies use manufacturers engaged in the Global Battery Alliance's Battery Passport initiative and encourage suppliers to do the same. Companies should also advocate for federal policies that establish standardized EV battery labeling and traceability mechanisms.
KPMG / CIRCULOR — Global professional services firm KPMG and Circulor, a value chain traceability solution, announced a new alliance to offer a software solution and support that enables customers to trace, monitor and control critical raw materials throughout their battery and other industrial value chains. Circulor has already developed a leading “digital battery passport” software solution. KPMG and Circulor will now expand beyond batteries to digital product passports and identifiers, across multiple industries. (May 2023)
Inclusive Sourcing Methodology
(Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG)) —
Provides practical, operational tools to support global corporate procurement teams in their efforts to improve their “social footprint” and enable “inclusive growth.”
Developed by a working group led by L’Oréal, and including CEF members
Schneider Electric and
Unilever, among other companies, the
Methodology recommends sourcing principles and a roadmap to make procurement practices more equitable and responsive to the needs of vulnerable populations. In addition, B4IG has compiled an
Appendix of best practice examples, and offers a Self-Assessment tool to help companies measure their inclusive sourcing practices against a scale of basic to advanced measures. B4IG is a partnership between the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and major corporations. (Aug 2022)
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Open Supply Hub (Open Apparel Registry, Inc.) — Provides an open data platform to improve data standardization and offer insights about production facilities and global supply chains. The new tool, funded by CEF Member Amazon along with Target, German development agency GIZ, the Laudes Foundation and Humanity United, will provide standardized name and address data and universal IDs for production facilities around the world, using data populated and used by companies, civil society organizations, factory groups, supply chain service providers, and other stakeholders. The Hub is designed to help support collaboration across global supply chains, while also streamlining and improving companies’ readiness for ESG reporting requirements. (July 2022)
“TrusTrace Certified Material Compliance” (TrusTrace) — A new solution that provides near-real-time traceability at the material level to help fashion and apparel brands calculate the sustainability metrics of goods, and manage risk and regulatory compliance. The solution covers certified and non-certified materials, supports different chain of custody models, addresses pending regulations, and can help identify material waste. (March 2022)
“Sustainable Procurement Pathway” (CDP, Boston Consulting Group) — A new tool to help companies manage and mitigate environmental risks in their supply chain beyond Tier 1 suppliers. It analyzes the development of a sustainable procurement strategy in five phases, according to a company’s maturity level, and offers KPIs companies can leverage. (Feb 2022)
Material Insights® Platform (RMI, TDi Sustainability) — A new platform that provides insights into ESG data associated with over 21 raw materials across 30 industries, with the aim of helping companies and supply chain actors strengthen their due diligence and responsible sourcing. Key features include ESG risk analysis, supply chain risk mapping, and country governance risks. (Dec 2021)
The Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and the Responsible Cobalt Initiative (RCI) created and published a revised Cobalt Refiner Supply Chain Due Diligence Standard. The standard aims to support companies’ responsible cobalt sourcing and production activities and allow them to comply with London Metal Exchange Responsible Sourcing requirements. (Aug 2021)
Materials Hub (CFDA, Ugg) — The Council of Fashion Designers of America, in partnership with Ugg, will launch a new open-access platform to connect designers and vendors with innovators and allow better access to sustainable materials and technology. The Hub launches in October. (Aug 2021)
Solar Supply Chain Traceability Protocol & Buyers Guide (U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association) — Voluntary measures for companies to identify the sources of a solar panel product's input materials and trace their movements through supply chains. Developed to help rid products installed in the U.S. consisting of components built abroad with forced labor. (May 2021)
Silicon based A.I. company ADAPT and sustainability platform company Equilibrium World launched the world's first carbon neutral A.I. platform for the logistics industry. The software solution allows logistics companies to calculate the carbon footprint of every service and shipment, purchase verified carbon credits to offset emissions and manage their own company wide carbon footprint and targets.
"Responsible Recruitment Due Diligence Toolkit" (Responsible Business Alliance) provides companies with guidance and tools to conduct due diligence, risk assessments, audits, and corrective actions to improve conditions across supply chains. The toolkit was developed with support from Apple and the International Organization for Migration and is aligned with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. (January 2021)
International third-party certification firm SCS Global Services published a draft of the world’s first sustainable framework for assessing and validating mined, laboratory-grown, and recycled diamonds—the Certification Standard for Sustainable Diamonds—which is open for public comment until March 15, 2021. (January 2021)
EDF Supply Chain Solutions Center (Environmental Defense Fund) is a user-friendly, digital resource hub that connects users to sustainability tools, best practices, thought leadership, and news. The hub offers hundreds of sustainability resources across six areas: agriculture, energy, chemicals, waste, forests, and freight.
World Wildlife Fund partnered with BCG Digital Ventures to launch OpenSC, a digital platform that enables businesses and consumers to identify where a specific product came from, when and how it was produced, and how it journeyed along the supply chain. (Jan 2019)
Supplier Decarbonization Resources
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Chemical Management Leadership Program for Global Supply Chains (CMLP) — The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) launched this risk-based voluntary commitment program to advance responsible chemical management in global electronics supply chains. The program is enabled by collaboration among RBA members and their suppliers and include several objectives, including: enable transparency on chemical management risks in supply chains through a scalable leadership program; harmonize industry efforts; support the implementation of more sustainable chemistry; and facilitate stakeholder dialogue. (July 2024)
Amazon Sustainability Exchange (Amazon) — Offers previously proprietary information to help companies of all sizes to decarbonize their operations. This free resource focuses on seven areas including: Buildings; Carbon-free energy; Carbon neutralization; Human Rights; Transportation; Waste & Circularity; and Water Stewardship. Each area includes a playbook, case studies, collaborating organizations, and additional resources. Also included is a Science Exchange focused on packaging materials, building materials, and alternative fuels, which provides Amazon’s approach, cross-sector solutions, and case-studies. (July 2024)
We Mean Business Coalition and B Lab today announced a new partnership to help companies around the world accelerate progress in cutting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Together the organizations will develop tools and guidance for businesses in order to help them accelerate emissions reduction. One central area of partnership will be between B Lab and the coalition’s joint initiative, the SME Climate Hub, which will provide small and medium enterprises with guidance on how to best take climate action and build resilience. (May 2023)
Financing Energy Efficiency: Accelerating Decarbonization for Electronics Manufacturing Supply Chains (RMI) — Introduces newly developed guidelines to support electronic companies in China to find feasible and cost-effective financing solutions for achieving global carbon footprint reduction targets via energy efficiency projects. The report presents a selection guideline on financing solutions for electronics manufacturers that intend to make efficiency upgrades — an effective but underutilized supply chain decarbonization measure. The report aims to help manufacturers quickly identify a green financing solution that works best for their situation. It also proposed new directions for innovation, including: providing guarantees to the financial return of energy efficiency projects; leveraging group efforts to obtain financing terms; and increasing the leverage multipliers of policy incentives. (Oct 2022)
“The Business Carbon Calculator” (Normative, with support from Google.org) — A new carbon calculator to help small- to medium-sized enterprises measure, track, and reduce their carbon emissions. The tool is an extension of the Industry CO² Insights tool and is available for free through the SME Climate Hub. (March 2022)
Decarbonization Playbook for Small and Medium Suppliers (Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable, BIER) — A new playbook to help small and medium suppliers in the beverage sector create a decarbonization roadmap. (Feb 2022)
Project Carbonview (Bayer, Bushel, Amazon Web Services) — A first-of-its-kind solution to help US farmers report on, analyze, and mitigate the environmental impact of their end-to-end supply chain carbon footprint. The solution will be piloted with ethanol producers (corn farmers) during the 2022 season, with plans to expand to other crops and other regions. (Dec 2021)
1.5°C Supplier Engagement Guide (1.5°C Supply Chain Leaders / Exponential Roadmap Initiative) — A new online platform with open-source tools, case studies, and resources to help businesses engage with their suppliers to halve GHG emissions by 2030. CEF members Google, Oracle, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Unilever belong to the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, the last three of which also belong to 1.5°C Supply Chain Leaders. (Nov 2021)
Climate Action Marketplace (Intuit) — A new marketplace to help SMEs in the U.S. and the U.K. reduce their carbon emissions at scale. Users can access resources, products, and services from 12 founding solution providers across the energy, procurement, food waste, travel, and commuting sectors, including Aspiration, Octopus Energy for Business, and Sendle. (Nov 2021)
SME Climate Disclosure Framework (CDP, SME Climate Hub, the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, Normative) — A new, open framework to help SMEs make science-based emission-reduction commitments, and track and report on their progress. (Nov 2021)
Sustainable Textiles and Apparel Guidance
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Identifying Low Carbon Sources of Sheep Wool, Hair, Alpaca Fiber, and Silk Fiber and of Man-Made Cellulosic Fibres (MMCF) (Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action (FICCA)) — These two reports provide guidance to the textile and apparel industries for lowering the carbon footprint when sourcing animal-based fibers and summarize the current best conclusions for low carbon sources of MMCF. The report on animal fibers showed that, for virgin wool and hair, methane from enteric fermentation is the most significant contributor to climate impact. For silk production, the highest impact was the production of the leaves to feed the silkworms. For recycled wool, the results showed high variability in impact levels based on factors such as raw material sourcing, transportation requirements, and energy and material demand from shredding and fiber production. The MMCF report, which examined 14 separate life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, concluded that emissions were heavily influenced by the type and location of the feedstock. The sources with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions were, in order: 1) Lyocell from low-carbon wood pulp or optimized recycled pulp; 2) Viscose from low-carbon wood pulp or optimized recycled pulp; and 3) Modal from low-carbon wood pulp or optimized recycled pulp. (Acetate was not included due to lack of LCA data.) The use of low carbon production practices can further reduce greenhouse gas impacts. (Aug 2023)
Collaboration
Open Supply Hub (Open Supply Hub (OS Hub)) — More than 400 companies will share their supply chain data with OS Hub, after four additional multi-stakeholder initiatives joined the more than twelve working with OS Hub. The four include: Cascale, Ethical Trading Initiative, Ethical Supply Chain Program, and Ethical Tea Partnership. This will result in tens of thousands of suppliers being added to OS Hub’s open data platform mapping global supply chain production locations. To date, OS Hub has over 1,400 contributors mapping nearly one million production locations. (Nov 2024)
The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Towards Net Zero Coalition of Action — Published new Supplier Sustainability Targets to set clear baseline standards across the consumer goods sector. It developed these to address decarbonization efforts, specifically emissions (including Scope 3), energy use, deforestation and regenerative agriculture. The Targets will initially apply to suppliers contributing 60-80% of a company’s Scope 3 emissions (which represent the largest portion of companies’ absolute greenhouse gas emissions across their value chains). (Nov 2024)
REfresh Alliance — This new collaboration is designed to help accelerate renewable energy adoption in the beverage industry’s supply chain. The program, managed by Enel X, will aggregate demand, provide education, and connect participants with renewable energy providers and supports transactions. It intends to initially launch in Europe and North America. Ten global beverage companies, including Bacardi, Diageo, and The Coca-Cola Company, are currently part of the partnership, with additional companies across the industry invited to join. (Nov 2024)
Hospitality sector partnership — The World Sustainability Hospitality Alliance, a coalition of over 100 members from the hospitality sector, and the International Platform for Insetting (IPI), which advocates for climate action within global value chains, have partnered to enhance knowledge sharing and harmonize sustainability measurements and efforts across the sector. (Oct 2024)
Product Carbon Footprint Measurement project — Digital Capital, a UK organization specializing in advanced digital technology, launched this new effort as part of its International Supply Chain Accelerator to help drive advancements in how carbon footprint data is measured and exchanged internationally. The project is in collaboration with the Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT), with support from CEF Member Unilever, GS1 UK, and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). (Sept 2024)
PACT (Partnership for Carbon Transparency) — Launched its 2024 Implementation Program, with an expanded cohort of 25 companies, including CEF members BASF, Chevron, Procter & Gamble, Schneider Electric, and Unilever. The companies will work with their key suppliers to advance calculation and exchange of Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data, improving transparency to stakeholders and enabling targeted decarbonization of their value chains. (July 2024)
Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) — Is expanding its scope for benchmarking to include environmental sustainability (in addition to its existing social scope). SSCI will now provide third-party accreditation schemes with minimum criteria for industry-expected standards of environmental sustainability across primary production, forestry, and manufacturing. As part of this process, SSCI published its Environmental Benchmark Criteria: Comments Received from Public Consultation.This compiles input received in April and May 2024. The report is organized into themed chapters, each containing specific criteria (with comments consolidated under their respective criteria), as well as original and final text. (June 2024)
AIM Platform Criteria: Draft for Stakeholder Comment (Advanced and Indirect Mitigatio (AIM) Platform) — These criteria focus on guiding organizations to address emissions in their value chain through value chain interventions. They provide clarification on what needs to be in place to determine that an intervention can be considered sufficiently associated with a company’s value chain as well as how to ensure sound emissions accounting and environmental integrity. The draft includes questions for stakeholders on which the governing committee is seeking input. Stakeholder feedback is invited until 21 June 2024 via this form. (May 2024)
The Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) Platform — Published its Guiding Principles. This will serve as the foundation for the AIM Standard and Guidance, which aims to direct companies to identify and invest in value chain interventions that can be credibly counted towards corporate climate targets. (March 2024)
WBCSD/USCS Sustainability-sharing Partnership — The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability (USCS) formed a new partnership to share sustainability-related learnings and solutions between multinational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across global supply chains.. WBCSD will make its guidelines, tools, and case studies available to the nearly 2,000 member organizations of USCS’s SustainChain platform. (Feb 2024)
First Movers Coalition — The coalition has reached 100 members, with more than 120 commitments to purchase near-zero emission goods and services by 2030. By 2030, these commitments will represent an annual demand of $15 billion for emerging climate technologies and 31 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent in annual emissions reductions. Members have also signed 94 offtake agreements to buy emerging climate technologies and near-zero emission goods and services from qualified suppliers. The coalition also announced several new advancements focused on identifying the supply of breakthrough decarbonization technologies, including the winners of the Sustainable Aviation Challenge; a Near-zero Steel 2030 Challenge; a New First Suppliers Hub; and a new sustainable procurement guide on cement & concrete procurement. (Jan 2024)
Hospitality Alliance for Responsible Procurement (HARP) — HARP will work to accelerate sustainable performance within the hospitality industry. It will enhance collaboration between hospitality organizations and trading partners to build transparency and scale positive impact across their value chains. HARP addresses key challenges faced by supplier sustainability programs including accelerating suppliers’ performance improvement curve, and scaling up visibility by strengthening supplier engagement rate. HARP will work with EcoVadis for its rating methodology and improvement platform. CEF member Marriott International is one of the eight founding members.
Manufacturer Climate Action Program (MCAP) — Launched by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) in collaboration with NIKE and Target Corporation, MCAP builds on SAC’s Decarbonization Program and aims to enable manufacturers to start reducing carbon emissions. It provides an intermediate pathway for manufacturers to measure carbon emissions and develop science-aligned targets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions where they have direct control. (Oct 2023)
Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Task Force — Seven pharmaceutical company members of the SMI Health Systems Task Force have signed an Open Letter calling on suppliers to commit to joint, minimum climate and sustainability targets to play their part in decarbonizing the healthcare value chain. The supplier targets outlined aim to reduce emissions across the value chain and reduce the complexity of multiple asks for suppliers, through setting common expectations of the minimum targets that suppliers should achieve. Supplier targets for 2025 include assessing and disclosing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; setting near-term targets aligned to the 1.5°C pathway; and setting targets to reduce waste and energy and to reuse materials in manufacturing. Targets for 2030 include switching to at least 80% renewable power; exploring options to source green heat; confirming standards for their own suppliers; and setting targets to increase water efficiency and adopt water stewardship standards. (July 2023)
The Advanced and Indirect Mitigation Platform (AIM) — The new AIM Platform, convened by Gold Standard, Neoteric Energy and Climate, and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), will serve as a hub for identifying and removing barriers to value chain mitigation and coordinating collective mitigation action in hard to abate sectors. In its first initiative, AIM will bring together experts and practitioners to develop credible approaches for accounting, reporting, and claiming the results of efforts that reduce emissions within a company’s value chain (such as reducing difficult to measure Scope 3 emissions). AIM is now issuing an open call to experts from civil society, standard-setting bodies, and the private sector to apply to participate in sectoral and cross-cutting working groups. To apply or to join AIM’s informational webinar on March 9, 11am-12pm EST, visit here. (Feb 2023)
Incentives for Scope 3 supply chain decarbonization: accelerating implementation (WBCSD and PwC) — This new report pulls together insights on “decarbonization levers” presented in the past year, summarizing outcomes from WBCSD’s Incentivizing Supply Chain Decarbonization working group, which was set up to deepen the practical guidance shared and drive action on reducing Scope 3 emissions. Levers identified include: decarbonization criteria in procurement, beneficial terms, longer-term investments, mandatory carbon reporting, public recognition & co-branding, and engagement beyond tier 1 suppliers. CEF members in the working group include Unilever, Dow, Siemens, P&G, and Chevron. (Nov 2022)
The Semiconductor Climate Consortium — Aims to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the semiconductor value chain and will work together along three objectives: collaborating on common approaches and technology innovations to reduce GHG emissions; publicly report progress on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions annually; and set near- and long-term decarbonization targets with a net zero goal by 2050. The consortium is made up of 60 founding members, including CEF members: Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and Schneider Electric. Companies can learn how to join here. (Nov 2022)
Indirect Spend Risk & Responsibility Alliance — Addresses human rights and emissions reduction in indirect spend categories (i.e., those not directly linked to revenue-generating products) by working with indirect procurement teams on best practices in responsible sourcing. The alliance is chaired by Oliver Hurrey (CEF Advisory Board Member and chair of the Sustainable Procurement Pledge) in partnership with TwentyFifty and SupplyShift. It currently includes 12 leading companies, including CEF Member Amazon, but more are welcome. The priority categories agreed upon by the Alliance include: packaging/recycling & waste services; logistics/distribution & warehousing; marketing services/promotional items; technology & professional services; PPE/laboratory consumables; FM/cleaning & maintenance. (June 2022)
Guidehouse Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LoCT) project — Added nine global brands to the project, expanding from three founding members—Mars, PepsiCo (CEF member), and McCormick & Company—to 12 with the addition of Atlantic Packaging, The Coca-Cola Company, The Estée Lauder Companies, General Mills, Keurig Dr Pepper, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Restaurant Brands International, and Yum! Brands. Founded in April 2021, the consortium is working to accelerate action among suppliers towards net-zero emissions. (April 2022)
PEPSICO / SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (CEF members) — Launched “pep+ REnew,” a first-of-its-kind educational program in the food and beverage industry that will help PepsiCo’s value chain partners accelerate their transition to renewable electricity. Schneider Electric will serve as an independent advisor to assist PepsiCo’s partners with renewable energy purchasing. (April 2022)
The Clean Energy Buyers Institute (CEBI, formerly the REBA Institute) launched the Decarbonizing Industrial Supply Chain Energy (DISC-e) initiative, which organizes large industrial consumers with Scope 3 GHG commitments to create demand signals in key supply chains, beginning with a focus on solar, building materials such as steel, and aluminum. Collectively, companies participating in DISC-e can leverage their procurement to make a meaningful impact through low-carbon industrial commodities. (April 2022)
List of Collaborative Efforts to Accelerate Supply Chain Sustainability, 2021-2019 (PDF)