S4 Workshop: Procurement & Supply Chain

In February 2025 the Secret Society of Sustainability Spies (#S4) held its first workshop with 40 participants. This is the first of a series of discussions that bring together specific job functions to dive into how individuals can make change in their own roles. As we witness a rollback on ESG ambitions globally those with a pure sustainability focus find themselves increasingly marginalised and with less power and so now more than ever the individual contribution in everyone’s day-to-day role is crucial.

The job function that was the focus of this first workshop was Procurement & Supply Chain.

This document includes topline findings from the event which was held virtually under Chatham House rule and facilitated by Magali Anderson , founder of #S4 and Eugenia Ceballos Hunziker , a recognised leader with deep experience of sustainable procurement and impact valuation.

Why does procurement matter?

Procurement is a function that touches every single aspect of sustainability. Everyone working in procurement has a fantastic opportunity and responsibility because every purchasing decision impacts not only your company P&L, but also human rights, environment, climate and nature.

People working in procurement have to overcome the challenges of the market and the regulation, all while protecting the company reputation and contributing to the company P&L.

You can have a big impact in the job you are doing because you have the power to make change here and now whether you’re in a company that supports you, or not.

Sustainable Procurement Best Practices

Here are ten top ideas that were defined in the workshop to enable people to fold sustainability into a procurement or supply chain function.

When the best practice involves working with suppliers, we suggest you start with your top 10 that represents 50-80% of your emissions/spend/impact

1. Input sustainability in your tendering process

• Include Sustainability criteria in the preselection process, which must be defined by supply category.
• Give good weighing to the sustainability criteria in the evaluation.

2. Evaluate Suppliers for Sustainability

• Conduct supplier segmentation to define engagement and sourcing strategies. Understanding supplier influence and dependency on your business but also understanding their capabilities and willingness are the basis to drive sustainability, competitively.
• Conduct audit for the most impactful ones
• Collaborate with key suppliers to improve sustainability practices,

3. Promote Circular Procurement

• Source products that are reusable, recyclable, or made from sustainable materials.
• Supplier take-back programmes to ensure proper recycling or disposal should be part of the evaluation

4. Incorporate Sustainability into Contracts

• Include clauses that incentivise sustainable practices and require compliance with environmental standards, including penalties.
• Use sustainability-related KPIs to hold suppliers accountable.

5. Foster Supplier Diversity

• Source from local and diverse suppliers to reduce emissions and support local economies.
• Engage smaller, more sustainable suppliers to signal your commitment and encourage the dominant supplier to take negotiations more seriously.
• Partner with small businesses that have strong sustainability initiatives.

6. Leverage Technology

• Use procurement software to track sustainability metrics and automate compliance checks.
• Analyse data to assess environmental and social impacts.

7. Educate and Raise Awareness

• Provide internal sustainability training for stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Lead by example by advocating for sustainable practices.

8. Measure and Report Progress

• Track key sustainability KPIs and supplier compliance.

• Transparently report progress to stakeholders to build credibility.

9. Collaborate with Cross-Functional Teams

• Engage with sustainability teams to align procurement strategies with company goals.
• Work with other departments to integrate sustainability across business processes.

10.?Advocate for Policy Change

• Stay updated on and comply with emerging sustainability regulations.
• Participate in industry groups to influence policy changes and share best practices.

Participants were invited to choose a topic to discuss in breakout rooms. Findings :

Operationalise ESG in procurement functions

In an ideal organisation, ESG governance is a prerequisite. There should be a strategy, with targets, KPI and a clear mandate given to procurement as a function to help deliver on the company’s sustainable supply chain strategy. .

However, as S4, you might not have the power to change the governance of your company, so even if the above has not happened, you can still do the following:

We must be pragmatic and strategic.

• Identify who are the key suppliers to activate, those that have the biggest footprints.

• Adopt a long-term perspective, both internal and external.
• Adjust the decision-making criteria and process.
• Include TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) concept in the decision making.

Create specific work streams or programmes.

• Consider that not every supplier has the same size or the same resources.
• Sustainability must be embedded from the beginning, starting with the tendering process

Nature

Value of sustainability must be linked to what actually drives business success, whether it's in biotech, pharmaceuticals, or other industries. Sustainability alone may not be enough to drive buyers, and other factors need to be considered.

Legislation and regulation may not align with reality, making it difficult to compete with established, less sustainable alternatives. Yet businesses must find ways to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of their solutions to buyers, even if there is a cost disadvantage.

There is a difficulty for new businesses to displace established industry leaders, and so making the transition easier for both buyers and suppliers is essential.

The role of policy is a potential catalyst for broader action in sustainability.

CO2

The difficulty lies in making some sectors' supply chain more sustainable while dealing with customer demands (here the example was automotive).

A suggestion was made to refine the segmentation of suppliers by category to better target them for negotiation and innovation. This would involve identifying:

• Suppliers that the company has no negotiation power over.
• Suppliers that the company needs, but these suppliers also need the company as a customer. These suppliers represent an opportunity for innovation.
• Suppliers based on their contribution to the product's CO2 footprint to help prioritise efforts for sustainability

Participants were asked to share what they are facing right now. Here were the results.

Poll findings :