CDP has announced a significant 24% jump in the number of companies asking their suppliers to report environmental data this year.
Blue chip corporations like Nike, Airbus, Sainsbury’s and Ørsted, as well as public sector organisations including the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority (NY MTA) are among the 30 large purchasing organisations from around the world that have started working with CDP for the first time this year to help manage their supply chains more sustainably.
They are asking their key suppliers to report data through CDP’s environmental disclosure platform on their impacts, risks, opportunities and strategies related to climate change, deforestation and/or water security issues. This data will then be used to inform procurement decisions and supplier engagement strategies.
These companies are joining the likes of Walmart, Microsoft, Stanley Black & Decker and Japan’s Environment Ministry, bringing the total number of CDP supply chain members to over 150 organisations with a combined procurement spend of over $4 trillion, all calling for transparency on environmental issues from their suppliers. In total the request has gone out to over 15,000 suppliers this year.
Dexter Galvin, Global Director of Corporations & Supply Chains at CDP, commented: “The current Covid-19 pandemic and its economic fallout has shown that building resiliency into our global supply chains has never been more vital. Global corporations have supply chains that wrap around the globe, touching millions of people, and by holding the purse strings they have the power to drive impact at scale – incentivizing a behavior shift in the companies that supply them. With emissions in the supply chain being on average 5.5 times higher than a company’s direct emissions, the buyer-supplier dynamic will make or break whether our economy can reach net zero by 2050, as the science demands.”.
The organisations joining CDP for 2020 hail from around the world, with a surge of 34% growth in North America.
The demand for this data among the procurement teams of some of the biggest buyers in the world is driven by growing awareness of the environmental risks posed to business – including physical impacts disrupting global supply chains and reputational risks to brands because of environmental damage in the supply chain.