4a. Select suppliers who can support your Greening Government Commitment goals
The Greening Government Commitments lay out the actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment.
Businesses commonly set broad sustaiability goals under the Environmental, Social and Governance Framework (ESG) framework. For larger organisations, reporting on Scope 1 (direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the company) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy) is mandatory.
Sub-actions
4a. (i) Ensure suppliers include their corporate sustainability goals in bids and planning
4a. (ii) Choose suppliers that have committed to carbon reduction plans and Science Based Targets across their supply chains
4a. (iii) Choose suppliers that align with government measurement and reporting methodology for digital
4a. (iv) Choose suppliers with comprehensive reporting
(i) Ensure suppliers include their corporate sustainability goals in bids and planning
An ESG strategy covers environmental and social impact, and governance. Sustainability goals should outline how short and log term targets will be reached.
Environmental benefit:
Sustainability goals are the first step towards meaningful action.
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(ii) Choose suppliers that have committed to carbon reduction plans and Science Based Targets across their supply chains
Carbon emission reduction targets will form part of an organisation’s ESG strategy. A Carbon Reduction Plan provides a visible way to measure your supply chain’s impact on your organisation’s carbon footprint
For any size of contract you should check suppliers:
• have committed to meeting the government’s NetZero targets
• have published a carbon reduction plan
Environmental benefit:
Carbon reduction targets are necessary to focus organisation’s on reducing greenhouse gases which lead to dangerous warming of the global climate.
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(iii) Choose suppliers that align with government measurement and reporting methodology for digital
A cross-government working group is looking at standardised methodologies for calculating the lifeycle emissions of cloud and end-user devices. This sub-action will be updated based on the outputs of this group!
Environmental benefit:
Alignment with a robust measurement methodology allows comparison between suppliers.
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(iv) Choose suppliers with comprehensive reporting
Transparent reporting on sustainability goals means stakeholders can:
• follow a supplier’s ESG impacts
• check progress on a supplier’s ESG goals
Reports should be accessible to the public and regularly updated.
Environmental benefit:
Comprehensive reporting allow assessment of where suppliers are at on their sustainability journey.