What are some of the best practices and standards for sustainable procurement?
由人工智能和领英社区提供技术支持
Before you can implement sustainable procurement, you need to understand your current performance, gaps, and opportunities. You can use various tools and frameworks to conduct a self-assessment, such as the ISO 20400:2017 guidance on sustainable procurement, the Sustainable Procurement Benchmark (SPB), or the UN Global Compact Self-Assessment Tool. These tools can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, set priorities and objectives, and measure your progress and impact.
-
First outline, what you're looking for in a sustainable vendor, the responsibilities you expect them to take onboard and how their processes should match your social, environmental and economic objectives. Your Code of Conduct can also be used retrospectively for procurement agreements. Assess your existing vendor base against your criteria, communicate the changes you're looking to make and ask them questions that align with your new framework to see if they still align with your sustainability objectives. This will help you to find any gaps and make changes - such as ending existing relationships to bring on a new vendor - to improve the resilience and diversity of your vendor base.
-
When developing the scope of the program and requirement, companies must monitor and count in the regulatory landscape, as the world is transitioning from voluntary standards to mandatory. For example, the Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule was proposed by the US Federal Government on 11/10/2022. When enacted the rule would require major and significant federal vendors to disclose their CO2 emissions and climate-related financial risks. The German Supply Chain Act that went into effect on 1/1/2023 requires large companies to monitor their supply chains for social and environmental violations.
Sustainable procurement should be aligned with your overall corporate sustainability strategy and vision, as well as the expectations and needs of your internal and external stakeholders. You can use the materiality analysis to identify the most relevant environmental, social, and economic issues for your business and your supply chain, and to engage with your stakeholders to understand their perspectives and interests. You can also use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a reference to align your procurement activities with the global agenda and to communicate your contribution.
One of the core elements of sustainable procurement is to integrate sustainability criteria and standards into your procurement processes and policies. This means that you should consider not only the price, quality, and availability of the goods and services, but also their environmental, social, and economic impacts throughout their life cycle. You can use various sources and methods to define and apply sustainability criteria and standards, such as the ISO 14000 series on environmental management, the ISO 26000:2010 guidance on social responsibility, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards on sustainability reporting, or the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach.
-
This is where using the B Corp framework can help. If you're suppliers are B Corp certified or going through the process of certification you can be sure that they have met high sustainability criteria.
Another key element of sustainable procurement is to manage your suppliers and risks effectively. This means that you should establish clear expectations and requirements for your suppliers, monitor and evaluate their performance and compliance, and support them to improve their sustainability practices and capabilities. You can use various tools and platforms to manage your suppliers and risks, such as the EcoVadis sustainability rating system, the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange (SEDEX), or the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) code of conduct.
-
Suppliers are often the biggest part of a company's scope 3 emissions so start by asking them what they're doing from an environmental point of view. It's best to try and engage with them rather than dictate to them!
-
A trusted technology solution can significantly streamline your supplier management efforts and bring efficiency and transparency to the process. When choosing a technology solution assess a provider against three important criteria: 1) the end-to-end solution that allows to integrate supply chain management into a corporate risk and governance program; 2) scalability that allows to expand program in scope and complexity as your supply chain grows, and 3) risk quantification capabilities that allow to assess risks and opportunities arising from your supply chain.
Sustainable procurement is not a one-way process, but a collaborative and innovative one. This means that you should seek to build long-term and trust-based relationships with your suppliers, customers, peers, and other stakeholders, and to leverage their knowledge, expertise, and resources to create shared value and solutions. You can use various platforms and initiatives to collaborate and innovate, such as the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC), the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles, or the Circular Economy 100 (CE100) network.
The last element of sustainable procurement is to communicate and report your activities, achievements, and challenges. This means that you should be transparent and accountable for your procurement decisions and impacts, and that you should share your best practices, learnings, and stories with your stakeholders and the public. You can use various channels and formats to communicate and report, such as your website, social media, newsletters, case studies, or sustainability reports.
更多相关阅读内容
-
SustainabilityHow can you overcome barriers to sustainable procurement in your industry?
-
Supplier SourcingHow do you integrate green criteria and standards into your procurement policies and contracts?
-
SustainabilityHow can you use sustainable procurement to drive positive change?
-
Operations ManagementHow do you align procurement strategy with the UN Sustainable Development Goals?