17. Influence your value chain and partners
Why does it matter?
Influencing suppliers and partners towards sustainability extends an organization’s positive impact beyond its immediate operations. As organizations become interconnected in the global supply chain, collective eco-friendly actions can create ripple effects. Organizations can holistically reduce their environmental footprint by ensuring that partners align with green initiatives, amplifying their contribution to global sustainability. You’ll find these emissions included in Scope 3 (as per the Greenhouse Gas Protocol).
What can I do?
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Define environmental standards for supplier selection and include related contractual clauses
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Include climate and environmental requirements in your contracts, RFPs and RFIs: hosting, website development (carbon budget per page delivered), payments, communication, customer service, distribution, etc.
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Understand the impact from existing third parties with BuiltWith or Are my third parties green
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Engage in discussions about sustainability with existing partners
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Collaborate with your suppliers and partners to support local production and utilize reconditioned and recycled resources where possible
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Offer rewards or recognition for green compliance
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Create tools for partners and suppliers to help them reduce and monitor their emissions
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Launch joint eco-initiatives or workshops with partners, such as Climate Fresk
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Monitor suppliers’ environmental practices to ensure continued alignment
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Establish upstream transparency about emissions, which enables tracking of supply-chain initiatives and monitoring progress.
What does success look like?
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Engaging partners and suppliers committed to sustainability
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Adoption of cleaner electricity sources for operations
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Established targets for reduced carbon and greenhouse gas emissions
Things to consider
Building genuine relationships with suppliers and partners is key: it ensures that the drive towards sustainability feels collaborative rather than imposed. It’s crucial to clarify expectations and offer assistance where possible through resources, training, or shared expertise. If you are a large organization working with a broad network of suppliers, we encourage you to create a sustainability exhibit (see Salesforce’s example).
Celebrating shared milestones and successes can foster a sense of collective accomplishment. Lastly, maintaining flexibility and understanding that each supplier might be at a different stage in their sustainability journey ensures a balanced approach, fostering long-term commitment, and promotes the collaborative culture the planet needs to tackle climate change.
By integrating social and environmental criteria into your purchasing decisions, you can promote operational efficiency and reduce supply chain risks to strengthen your reputation with stakeholders. This can help position your company as a committed leader.—