10 Steps to put Supplier Engagement into Climate Action for 1.5°C target

To achieve the 1.5°C ambition of the Paris Climate Agreement, business action across the full value chain is crucial. More and more leading brands are joining forces in action groups to tackle this challenge, such as the “1.5 Supply Chain Leaders” founded by the Exponential Roadmap Initiative.

The NGO brings together innovators, transformers and disruptors taking action in line with the 1.5°C ambition. Their common mission is to halve global greenhouse gas emissions before 2030 through exponential climate action and solutions.

In CHOICE Event #56 we learned from Laure Pérez Casado, Project Lead at Exponential Roadmap Initiative, how to engage suppliers for climate actions. Find here the most important 10 steps.

1. Set your foundation

It all starts with a strong foundation. Starting a supplier engagement program for decarbonization, needs to have a clear set up first. Therefore, companies need to start with their own journey before they can reach out to their business partners. As first step: Make your climate commitment public, set a target and include your supply chain, assess your emissions and be clear about your priorities about actions and solutions you want to implement in your own transition. Aim high: Cutting emissions halve until 2023 is inline with the Paris-1,5°-target.

2. Accept the ambiguous status quo

Even within the own company, targets, strategies, incentives and requirements can differ quite a lot. Typically, sustainability and procurement office need to align first to assure a successful program outcome. Form your #TeamClimate and ask yourself: Why do we need a program - for reporting, buying decisions or actions? What can be done? Which outcome is anticipated? Who needs to be involved? When can we start?

3. Be simple!

Often company leaders want to get everything done in one step. That is us humans, we like simple solutions. But honestly, simplicity needs to stay simple. If you start with a too complex system right from the beginning, frustration levels can be very high - on all sides. Do yourself a favour by asking simple questions first. Such as: Have you set climate targets? Did you calculate your emissions and which kind of climate actions are you planning to implement?

4. Focus on your hotspots in the supply chain

Great! You have set climate targets, aligned with your company internal action team - and know which data points you want to collect and how you want to roll out the program. Now is the time to find a simple way, to pre-screen your supply chain. Many companies work with third party data, databases and / or a spend-based approach to have a first understanding of the status quo of their value chain. This way, you can cluster suppliers into areas of strategic importance and find hotspot, on which you can should focus. The Climate Intelligence Platform offers a fast and simple way to start screening your supplier base and kick-off your Supplier Climate Engagement Program - start today and create a free account.

5. Clarify data needs for sustainability and procurement

Last, but not least, before you reach out to your supply chain: Get on the same page. Make sure (again) that your internal stakeholders are all aligned. Is everyone onboarded in your #TeamClimate? Your sustainability and procurement team will mostly likely work with the collected data and have certain expectations of the results you are aiming for. As you very likely have already iterated the process, align on the data, processes and next steps. Just to be sure.

6. Set up the process: procurement or sustainability team?

Now, it is time to get started. Most companies have the supplier engagement program organized by the procurement team, but need the sustainability team to provide insights and a clear message that is published regarding your supply chain climate target. This allows procurement to address suppliers in collaboration with your #TeamClimate and supports the credibility of the program.

7. Start engaging supplier by stressing the "why"!

Your moment to shine! You go out and communicate with your suppliers. This is not a one-way conversation. Invite for collaboration, share knowledge and resources and provide guidance through your anticipated journey. Most important: Provide incentives to get suppliers on board. Take away the fear of being rated top-down and instead share benefits for suppliers that are supporting your climate initiative. Find out more in the CHOICE Event "How to Qualify, Assess and Develop Suppliers for Scope 3 Decarbonization".

8. Don't overwhelm, stay simple!

Be aware that climate management can be frustrating. You might have suffered along the way, too. Just because you are now further ahead, does not mean your suppliers are there yet. Get them onboard and be open for feedback, together you can improve. We are all in this journey together and face a transition to a low carbon economy that will take until at least 2050. Many opportunities will come along the way. Get your business partners engaged and motivated.

9. Dare to take decisions

Nevertheless, the goal is clear. Cutting emissions, building up skills for a structured transformation and gaining insights on the climate maturity of your suppliers. This means, the moment you have gathered information, received feedback and have finalised your data integration, you have to take decisions. Data is there to be used! Not to be gathered only. Make sure you gain insights for decision making from it. You need to define a baseline from which you started and plan next steps that bring you and your suppliers closer towards Net Zero. Decisions that need to be taken: How do you provide climate knowledge to suppliers? How do you share best practices and benchmarks? How do you define supplier requirements and collaborate on taking action? Find out "How to generate Value from Supplier Climate Data" in this CHOICE Event.

10. Report and repeat

Finally, you also need to celebrate your success! It is great that you tackle the biggest challenge of the corporate world today: the climate transformation and decrabonization of your supply chain. Acknowledge that this is the only valid way to decrease emissions in a meaningful way - in Scope 3, where up to 90% and more of the total corporate emissions come from. Companies cannot reach Net Zero emissions over night. And focusing only on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, does not at all support the full requirements and climate targets. You and your #TeamClimate started an awesome journey that is highly influencing the financial, social and environmental impact of your company. Now, be transparent about what you achieved (and what not). Share within your company and externally. You took the first step, talk about it and share your learnings. You will repeat the process next year, so it's the best time to get into the improvements and actions with suppliers.

You want to start you simple and scalable supply chain deacarbonization journey?

You can now start your own supplier screening and evaluation process by creating a free account on the Climate Intelligence Platform, which streamlines and automates the workflows to save your company time and money. Within the free basic account you can invite an unlimited number of your suppliers and start your supply chain transformation journey towards Net Zero. Get started today with a free account!