Wednesday 20 May 2020

Number of businesses asking suppliers to disclose environmental data jumps by a quarter in 2020

The number of businesses asking their suppliers to disclose environmental data has jumped by a quarter in 2020.

That's according to environmental non-profit CDP, which says 30 large purchasing organisations from around the world have started working with CDP this year to help manage their supply chains more sustainably - they include multinational corporations such as Nike, Airbus, Sainsbury’s and Ørsted, as well as public sector organisations like the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority.

These businesses and groups are now asking their key suppliers to report data regarding their impacts, risks, opportunities and climate, deforestation and water strategies through CDP’s environmental disclosure platform to better inform procurement decisions and supplier engagement strategies.

The number of CDP supply chain members now totals more than 150 organisations with a combined procurement spend of over $4 trillion (£3.3tn), that have collectively called on 15,000 suppliers this year to step up transparency on environmental issues.

Dexter Galvin, Global Director of Corporations & Supply Chains at CDP, said: "The current Covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout has shown that building resiliency into our global supply chains has never been more vital.

"Global corporations have supply chains that wrap around the globe, touching millions of people, and by holding the purse strings they have the power to drive impact at scale – incentivising a behaviour shift in the companies that supply them. With emissions in the supply chain being on average 5.5 times higher than a company’s direct emissions, the buyer-supplier dynamic will make or break whether our economy can reach net zero by 2050, as the science demands."