How do you engage and influence your suppliers to reduce their scope 3 emissions?

Engaging suppliers to reduce their scope 3 emissions benefits your business by lowering your own emissions and improving environmental performance. It strengthens supplier relationships, enhancing loyalty and trust. Additionally, it boosts your reputation among customers, investors, and regulators. Lastly, it fosters innovation and cost savings along your supply chain.

In my opinion, engaging and sensitising suppliers and partners will go a long way in creating a shared perspective on the need to reduce scope 3 emissions. Reducing the emissions will go a long way in reducing cost while boosting brand image and stakeholder confidence. Furthermore, it will help organisations to get ready ahead of a time when scope 3 emissions may become under the regulatory regime.

In my experience, suppliers can represent a large portion of your spend. So in addition to 'why' engage suppliers, we should also ask 'how' to successfully engage suppliers, especially if a firm is new to that type of engagement. As a start, focus groups and/or one-on-one conversations can create a foundation for a more communicative relationship.

-Any engagement can only be successful when it is driven by benefits to all that are engaged. -We must remember that loyalty and trust are two way streams not one way.

Net Zero can not be achieved without involving engaging Suppliers & without bringing down their carbon emissions. It is important to identify your significant upstream stakeholder. # Communication: Before asking & demanding a target, share with your organization Sustainability Vision. # Share with Supplier, significance of Carbon emission, how it will help each stakeholder. # Set Clear Emissions Targets: Establish specific emissions reduction targets. # Help supplier to develop their emission reduction plan. # Involve them in your success story & celebrate with them. It will develop your reputation & credibility among Suppliers. However there is no one-size-fits-all approach, it may change as per supplier size & organization requirements.

Il existe plusieurs méthodes pour calculer les émissions de scope 3 associées aux fournisseurs (catégorie 1 du scope 3, achats de biens et services). Ces méthodes sont associées à des niveaux de granularité et facilités de mise en place différents. La méthode basée sur les dépenses est assez facile à mettre en place car elle consiste en une conversion des dépenses (montant et type de transaction) en équivalent CO2. Elle n'est par contre pas recommandée pour un niveau de précision élevé car elle utilise des moyennes ne prenant pas en compte les particularités de vos fournisseurs. La méthode "supplier-specific" en revanche est plus complexe à mettre en place mais davantage précise car elle utilise les données spécifiques à vos fournisseurs

When you create surveys try to include specific questions that are your context specific, avoid questions that are general In nature . For example rather that asking for the carbon footprint of the entire organization ask for the share of your product specific emissions. You might not get the answer or you might get a question in response. This could be a good opportunity to engage, help, support and learn from each other. Blanket data is often misleading and doesn’t help you much in terms of taking holistic actions and engaging in true context and fact based improvements internally and with the supply chain. Sometimes your own practices or guidelines could be a source of problems in the supply chain.

To engage suppliers in reducing scope 3 emissions, start by measuring and understanding them. Use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's framework and tools like the Scope 3 Evaluator. Collect data from suppliers via surveys or online platforms to estimate emissions and identify key areas for improvement.

After measuring your scope 3 emissions, set reduction targets using the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to align with the Paris Agreement. Utilize SBTi's tools, like the Scope 3 Target Setting Protocol and Value Chain Decarbonization Pathways. Join the Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050.

When a company sets Scope 3 targets, it can be particularly impactful to focus on suppliers, as they fall under Scope 3 Category 1 emissions. This is because suppliers often contribute the most to emissions or represent a significant portion of them. It's beneficial to identify the highest-emitting suppliers and engage with them to assess their sustainability maturity. This allows for the establishment of shared objectives, considering their readiness to decarbonise alongside your own targets, ensuring their feasibility.

Clear and effective communication of your Scope 3 emissions reduction expectations to suppliers is key. This can be done through supplier codes of conduct, sustainability clauses in contracts, and supplier engagement programs. Workshops, training sessions, and regular meetings can also help suppliers understand the importance of emissions reduction, your organization's targets, and how they can contribute. Transparency about the reasons behind your focus on Scope 3 emissions and the benefits of reducing them can foster a collaborative approach.

To influence suppliers in reducing scope 3 emissions, clearly communicate your expectations via contracts, policies, and workshops. Use frameworks like CDP, EcoVadis, or ISO 14064-3 to standardize and reinforce your requirements.

Carbon insetting is a compelling strategy for companies as it involves actively reducing carbon emissions within their own supply chain. Unlike offsetting, which involves supporting external projects, insetting allows companies to directly impact their scope 3 emissions. Collaborating with suppliers on decarbonization not only strengthens relationships but also fosters innovation and the development of new working methods. This approach not only addresses environmental challenges but also opens the door to meaningful partnerships and sustainable practices within the business ecosystem.

Communicating scope 3 expectations is just the start. Support suppliers with training, tools, and incentives like preferential pricing or awards. Collaborate on projects and share knowledge to help them effectively reduce emissions.

Supporting suppliers in their scope 3 reduction efforts is crucial for achieving sustainability goals. In my experience, one effective approach involves documenting the renewable origin of electricity use in the value chain. This plays an important role in addressing Scope 3 emissions.

Supporting your suppliers in reducing their emissions can involve providing resources, sharing best practices, and facilitating access to technology or financing. Consider establishing incentive programs that reward suppliers for meeting or exceeding reduction targets. Collaborative initiatives, such as joint investment in renewable energy projects or efficiency improvements, can also be effective. Providing clear guidelines, tools, and examples of how to achieve emissions reductions can empower suppliers to take meaningful action.

To efficiently monitor and report on Scope 3 progress, a company can utilize digital platforms to collect data across the supply chain. Engaging suppliers throughout the value chain, the digital platform facilitates information sharing, target setting, and collaboration on emission reduction initiatives. Integrating these digital tools into sustainability reporting processes allows organizations to streamline data collection, improve accuracy, and effectively monitor and report their Scope 3 emissions progress.

The final step is to monitor and report your scope 3 emissions progress. Use metrics and dashboards to track performance, and validation schemes to enhance data credibility. Report achievements and challenges to stakeholders using GRI, SASB, or TCFD frameworks.

First step is setting 'base year', or the point you feel pretty confident about the data. Base year doesn't have to be the first year you report as you want to be confident in your data's reliability. Today scope 3 emissions aren't mandatory; do consider how reductions may align with your business strategy. Target type: Absolute targets refer to lowering GHG emissions during a timeframe, in metric ton units of CO2e. Intensity targets refer to lowering GHG emission ratio related to business metrics.

A few more insights on monitoring and reporting progress. Think about reductions you want in the short term, versus long and medium term. Those different timeframes can be called out. Offsets and credits are used, but can be controversial to some stakeholders, depending on your strategy. Finally, understanding the accounting aspect is critical, and remember to recalculate if you add new scope 3 activities.

It’s crucial to collaborate closely with suppliers and build long-term partnerships focused on sustainability. By working together, you can identify opportunities to lower emissions in their operations, whether through sharing best practices, providing training, or offering access to resources for improving energy efficiency, optimizing logistics, and sourcing sustainable materials. Building long-term relationships with critical suppliers further enhances this collaboration, creating trust and alignment on sustainability objectives. Long-term partnerships provide stability, enabling suppliers to confidently invest in sustainable initiatives, knowing your company will continue to support them throughout the transition.