Climate Insider Brief:
- Sustainability Live, a conference organized by Sustainability Magazine, featured a panel discussion on Scope 3 emissions. Javier López from SGS emphasized a pragmatic and collaborative approach, urging businesses to work closely with suppliers.
- The focus is on actively supporting suppliers in adopting sustainable practices, sharing best practices, and engaging stakeholders to foster collective efforts.
- This collaborative strategy, beyond rhetoric, aims for tangible results, emphasizing the importance of actionable steps over mere commitments.
Scope 3 emissions, encompassing all indirect emissions throughout a company’s operations, are undeniably the largest contributor to a business’s carbon footprint. Despite their significance, the disclosure of Scope 3 emissions remains non-mandatory in most countries, hindering substantial progress in mitigating the environmental impact. While COP27 shed light on the shortcomings of voluntary reporting schemes, like CDP, making them compulsory is now under consideration.
Sustainability Live, a sustainability conference organised by Sustainability Magazine in London, organised a panel discussion around Scope 3. The panel included Mark Jones from THG, Javier López from SGS and Patrick Linighan from Clyde & Co LLP.
Javier López, emphasising a pragmatic and collaborative approach, suggests that the real value lies in working closely with suppliers to enhance sustainability and reduce both scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. In his perspective, collaboration involves supporting suppliers in adopting sustainable practices, sharing best practices, and actively engaging stakeholders to foster collective efforts.
López highlights the importance of moving beyond mere rhetoric and taking concrete steps to reduce environmental impact. He stresses that collaborative efforts extend beyond scope 3 emissions, involving discussions about innovation and the optimization of supply chains. In his own experience, López has seen the positive outcomes of collaboration and conversations with suppliers, emphasizing the need for actionable steps rather than empty commitments.
“The real value is in collaboration with suppliers: how can I support my suppliers in being sustainable; to reduce their scope 1 and scope 2. Sharing with them best practices and how to implement them. It is an opportunity to engage with stakeholders to further collaborate,” says Javier López.
Acting collaboratively with suppliers not only addresses immediate environmental concerns but also creates a ripple effect, fostering a culture of sustainability within the supply chain. This collaborative approach aligns with the pragmatic call for action, leading to tangible results and effective reduction of scope 3 emissions. By incorporating sustainability into supply chain optimization, businesses can not only contribute to their own carbon reduction goals but also drive positive change on a broader scale.
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