1. Leverage associations/groups (like the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3)) to create efficiencies for supporting suppliers

2. Leverage existing enablement resources such as:

• The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) April 2023 Guide    Getting Started Guide for SBT Setting

• The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) May 2023 Guide Engaging Supply Chains on the Decarbonization Journey (free)

• Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) SBT Guides (free here on our members-only hub)

  • Guide 1: Scope 1 & 2 GHG Inventory & Target-Setting Basics  

  • Guide 2: Reduction Strategies to Achieve SBTs for Scopes 1, 2, 3

  • Letter for suppliers

• BSR 1.5 Degree Supplier Engagement Guide

• Salesforce Supplier Sustainability Resource Library - In addition to their custom-built Net Zero Toolkit, Salesforce compiled this tailored resource library for supplier, comprised mostly of publicly available resources created and maintained by third-parties. With so much content out there, it can be helpful to point suppliers to a curated set of resources.

• SME Climate Hub + SME Corporate Toolkit (Generally intended for companies with less than 50 employees) 

3. Build your own enablement resources 

BC3 Practitioners recommend leveraging existing resources as much as possible to minimize the amount of effort, time, and dollars required to provide content. Working through coalitions like BC3 to create and share resources can also help create consistency in messaging that leads to greater impact than going it alone. That said, sometimes it does make sense to build your own resource or program.

In addition to supplier sustainability websites and hubs, creating personalized resources for your suppliers can be very helpful. Here are a few examples of how you can do this:

• • Provide specific points of contact for one-on-one supplier support.

  • Gather suppliers together for support Via bespoke webinars and hands-on activities to submit sustainability data & answer sustainability questionnaires.

1. Develop (or choose/customize) a tracking system to track supplier progress. BC3 Practitioners have approached this in a number of ways including:

   1. • Develop/design your own system for tracking

      • Existing database modifications (SCOUT, COUPA, etc)

      • New or upgraded software Solutions (Watershed, EcoVadis, EmitWise, etc - See Section 2 Gathering Data)

      • CDP Supply Chain reports (for members of CDP Supply Chain)

2. Whether you are developing a new system on your own, or relying on an outside software solution, you will want to capture the following information from suppliers:

2. • Responses

   • Progress against KPIs 

     • • SBT status changes

       • Emissions Data (This is relevant if you are creating specific emissions factors for your suppliers)

       • Was data audited? Y/N

   • Agreements/Contractual Changes

     • • This is relevant if you have buy-in to add sustainability addendums or exhibits to contracts

         1. Ex: You might track which suppliers have signed onto these sustainability terms in your contract

         2. FYI: Tracking may overlap with how your procurement teams house their contracts

3. Determine auditing requirements

   • If your company will be checking on supplier progress annually, determine scope and depth of this audit

4. Keep track of suppliers that have not responded/need support

   1. Follow up if they need guidance, resources, training, etc. 

   2. Consider office hours, consulting hours, FAQs to help guide suppliers that need higher levels of support