In this Olympic year, it was fitting that we handed out some gold medals at Ovation – Procurement Leaders’ CPO summit that took place last month in the Netherlands.
Sadly we didn’t have any real gold medals, but the construct of competition did provide the motivation for CPOs to recognise their peers who they believed were doing something extraordinary to drive progress in sustainability.
Prior to the gathering, I had asked guests to complete a simple task, which I believe is a good exercise for all CPOs to complete. That is to summarise a sustainability initiative that is delivering results, one they would be proud enough of to discuss in front of a board of directors.
The vast majority of leaders responded, meaning we had a large collection of a shareable insights with which to fuel a group discussion. And the results of those conversations saw each table award a gold medal to the most impressive example.
It was an energising experience for everyone, not least because there have been more than a few headwinds of late when it comes to prioritising sustainability in corporate strategies.
One CPO explained how procurement has been leading an initiative to update the company’s climate ambitions, with external validation from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). It means they have moved from a position of not quantifying 80% of their impact to being ready to submit – and deliver on – comprehensive targets.
There were several considerations the CPO believed to be important, but top of the list was the need to build capability and leadership within procurement for sustainability – with deep subject-matter expertise and experience.
Another CPO shared information on the implementation of their organisation’s Scope 3 decarbonisation strategy, which was a critical 2023 executive committee goal. As a result, procurement had to develop an approach, deploy a toolset and facilitate a way of engaging with relevant stakeholders to make progress. The learnings from that experience?
- Start with clear goals and communication – keep it simple and where possible maintain one conversation.
- Prioritise and tier your suppliers – which are most material to your decarbonisation ambition? You cannot work with everyone at once.
- Train your internal organisation – if they’re comfortable, the conversation will be effective.
- Simplify the data-collection process – while there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, we need to reduce supplier fatigue where possible.
- Build relationships and foster collaboration – you may need new ‘sustainability’ points of contact at the supplier.
- Use technology tools that fit your business and your supply base.
- Be authentic, transparent and acknowledge everyone’s efforts.
- Remember, this is a journey, not a one-time event. It takes persistence and patience. Go at the pace your industry, organisation and supply base can handle.
Gold-medal-standard advice, for sure.
Last call to monitor ESG progress
As businesses continue their preparations for the coming year, our colleagues at Sustainability Leaders are busy gathering responses to help power the findings for their Sustainability Planning Guide 2025.
With the relationship between procurement and sustainability growing ever closer – not to mention an increasing number of CPOs assuming responsibility for sustainability – CPOs can offer a uniquely valuable perspective. Before the survey closes next week, please take a few minutes to share your insights and help enable the community to deliver on their ESG goals.
To receive weekly insights from the Procurement Leaders community, sign up to the CPO Crunch newsletter using the link at the top of this page.
