How to speak to your suppliers about net zero

For many businesses, more than 90% of their emissions come from their supply chain (scope 3). For example, 99.8% of Tech Zero member GoCardless’ emissions come from their supply chain.

Tech Zero members got together recently to help each other tackle their supply chain emissions. 

When it comes to talking to suppliers about net zero, knowing they’ve measured their emissions, made net zero commitments and are working on their plan is key.  Tech Zero members sign up to all of this and more, so tell them that you’ve joined Tech Zero, and encourage them to make the commitments as well. 

Tech Zero members have tried different ways of speaking to their suppliers about net zero

Laura Hendy, CEO at Our Carbon says the first step is to ask your suppliers to measure their emissions. You can help them to do this by referring them to the same consultant or online service that you used. We’ve listed some we like in the Tech Zero toolkit. 

Mark Fischel, Founder of aklimate agrees. “What seems most helpful is to engage early with suppliers and make it clear what your company’s destination is, why it’s important to you, what you want them to do, and how long they have to deliver.” Some larger businesses insist that suppliers use a carbon accounting tool, which measures their impact in real-time.

James Cannings, Chief Sustainability Officer at MSQ sends suppliers a survey so he could find out how many had set a net zero target and measured their emissions. One of MSQ’s own targets is to make sure that 50% of its supply chain has set a net zero target in the next five years. 

“So far, we’ve measured our supply chain using spend-based modelling. This basically means looking at how much we spent on goods and services, and calculating the average emissions per pound. We use spend-based emissions where we don’t have the actual data, but we use actual data where we can.”

MSQ contacted suppliers with an annual survey asking:

a. Do you have science-based targets (SBTs)?

b. Do you know your carbon footprint? (scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions)

c. What’s your annual revenue?

Questions C and D allowed them to roughly calculate the emissions of each of their suppliers. Question A lets MSQ know if their suppliers are aiming to reduce their emissions.

This is much easier than it sounds and you don't have to do it in the first year of measuring and reporting your emissions. You can start by experimenting with a modelling tool.

In the near future, as more and more companies report on their carbon emissions, it should be easier to use online tools to build databases of companies’ carbon footprints. This will make your suppliers’ footprint easier to find or calculate, and make your footprint easier to calculate too. 

When is the right time to seek a new supplier?

Tech Zero members encourage doing an annual supplier review. Ask about suppliers’ net zero commitments and the progress they’ve made. If some suppliers aren’t making progress, talk to them and see how you can work together to improve. 

After that – and if nothing’s changed – you may want to find new suppliers that are on board with your climate plans.

How to find suppliers who are taking climate action

Head to the Tech Zero website! From climate-conscious laundry, to low-carbon hotels, to sustainable ad campaigns. Almost all Tech Zero members can help businesses create a sustainable supply chain. You’ll know that they’re committed to reducing their emissions, and by working with them, they’ll help you lower yours.

Further tips

There’s loads of helpful info and ideas in the Scope 3 Peer Group on LinkedIn and the Sustainable Procurement Pledge community. The article, ‘Sustainable procurement: it’s not as difficult as you think’ is also a useful read.