Last week’s World Sustainability Congress in Amsterdam was an energising experience for many reasons and a reminder of the huge amount of work that CPOs must do to ensure we progress against ESG targets.
I was fortunate to have the role of cohost for the event and was left inspired by the level of passion in the room. But I am also convinced that we must do more as a procurement community and profession to accelerate progress.
This revelation surprised me. Perhaps I’ve become complacent but, over the past couple of years, sustainability has been among the top two or three topics of conversation between CPOs and always something that the community has been eager to discuss and explore.
So, when CPO Bertrand Conqueret and Chief Sustainability Officer Ulrike Sapiro of Henkel (pictured above) took to the stage to discuss the need for a close CSO/CPO relationship, I was taken aback by a contribution from one of our guests in the audience. The gentleman in question – a sustainability executive – expressed his surprise and said he wished that more CPOs were as passionate and supportive of their CSOs as Bertrand clearly was.
This immediately rang alarm bells. Surely, procurement has evolved to a place where it is driving sustainability as much as it is cost savings, resiliency, quality and – dare I say it – innovation? Surely, total sustainable cost of ownership is the only measure that CPOs are using as a benchmark of true value in 2024?
Sadly, it would seem not. Catching up with Bertrand afterwards, we were both a little disheartened by the statement and deliberated on whether some of the conversations we have are carried out in a bubble. We debated about whether procurement, when we zoom out to encompass organisations across a much wider landscape than the blue-chip world we tend to operate in, is still far from being an enabler of sustainability progress.
Bertrand shared how he had attended another event recently to discuss innovation, sustainability and supply chain, and was struck by how few procurement professionals were there. Not good enough was his takeaway; a moment of clarity that was only reinforced by the contribution of our friend in Amsterdam.
What can we do to address this? Well, one simple suggestion to start. Work closely with a select group of your supplier CPOs to ensure they take sustainability as seriously as you do. Segment your supply base and target those who may be less likely to do so. Go after mid-size organisations with a significant sustainability footprint and engage directly with the CPO and CEO.
It’s not new, of course. Supplier performance management has been around for decades. But with a sustainability lens – and with the supplier’s procurement function as the target – it could prove transformative.
Timing is everything
The timing was exquisite. Listening to a panel discussion at the World Sustainability Congress with Schneider Electric and Jabil – who were exploring the importance of data, digitalisation and product carbon footprint information in achieving net-zero – my phone buzzed with the arrival of an email. “Together for Sustainability (TfS) unveils pioneering carbon data exchange to drive decarbonisation in the chemical industry,” it read.
The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Exchange solution is based on Siemens’ SiGREEN technology and has been a labour of love for many in Procurement Leaders’ CPO community for a number of years. Congratulations to them on the launch – discover more here.
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