Transforming our supply chain to be more sustainable with science-based targets

Through our centralised procurement management process, we have a dedicated team resources to engage with our suppliers and request that they commit to SBTi. They also ask suppliers to submit information about their emissions and their carbon reduction journey through the carbon disclosure project (CDP).  

In an Irish context this means looking at our supplier landscape and understanding where emissions are concentrated. It means making decisions that are not just based on cost but on how sustainability can be embedded into our contracts and purchasing choices.  

These sustainability considerations have been embedded in a wide number of responsible procurement decisions including our stationery and IT equipment provider. At the same time we are cognisant of the supplier landscape in Ireland and the need to support a number of smaller suppliers.  

A good example of this in action during the last year is the onboarding of a new centralised catering supplier for our Irish offices, one that also values sustainability. Putting sustainability at the heart of that procurement process ensures that we can deliver on our sustainability ambitions and transform our business with a holistic approach. We do this not just through aligned targets but also in how we engage our people and to make more sustainable lifestyle choices. For example, during Earth Month, in April of this year, we held a combined session in our Dublin HQ.  At the event our people learned about sustainable food choices and sampled snacks made from food that would otherwise have gone to waste.  

Our sustainable events policy provides guidance to our people on how to make sustainable choices when setting up events. This applies not just for the food for internal events but to all aspects of both internal and external events from venue selection, to the types of promotional merchandise, or travel to a venue. In Ireland, we recently rolled out a sustainable events scorecard to help facilitate the teams organising events to assess how well they embedded sustainability considerations into the event and how they might improve next time.  

There is still work to be done in reaching our global target of 67% of global suppliers, by emissions. Strategic sourcing and responsible procurement from suppliers who share our sustainability values are significant steps in the right direction to enable this transformation. By signing up to science-based targets, we are determined to focus our energies on this particularly impactful area, demonstrating a collaborative approach to tackling the climate challenges we all face.