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For most businesses, purchased goods and services make up the biggest share of their carbon footprint - often 80%+ of total emissions. These are Scope 3 emissions, and they sit outside your direct control, which makes them harder to tackle.
A sustainable procurement policy gives your team a clear framework for choosing lower-carbon suppliers, asking the right questions, and building environmental criteria into everyday purchasing decisions. It's one of the most practical steps a business can take to cut emissions at scale.
It means factoring carbon and environmental impact into purchasing decisions alongside cost, quality, and delivery. That could be choosing a supplier who measures and reports their emissions, opting for refurbished equipment instead of new, or consolidating deliveries to cut transport emissions.
It also means thinking beyond carbon: considering waste, water use, packaging, and product lifecycle. The goal isn't to overhaul your procurement overnight, but to make better choices consistently, starting with the purchases that have the biggest impact.
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Read our detailed guide to understanding and measuring Scope 3 emissions across your value chain.
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Start by understanding where your procurement spend goes and which categories carry the highest emissions. Then set some ground rules: require carbon data from suppliers above a certain spend threshold, build sustainability into your tender process, and give staff clear guidance on what to prioritise.
You don't need a dedicated sustainability team to make progress. Even a simple policy with a supplier scorecard can shift behaviour and start reducing your Scope 3 footprint.
Yes - and it does more than reduce your own footprint. When you ask suppliers for emissions data and set expectations around carbon reduction, you're sending a signal through your supply chain. That pressure compounds: your suppliers start measuring, their suppliers notice, and standards rise across the board.
Paired with decent carbon accounting, a procurement policy also gives you the data you need to set meaningful Scope 3 targets and track progress year on year.
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Your questions answered
We recommend applying the policy to anyone involved in purchasing decisions: employees, contractors, and anyone placing orders or signing off on supplier contracts. The wider you apply it, the more consistent your impact.
That's what it's designed for. The template provides a solid structure and the key principles, but you should adjust thresholds, supplier expectations, and target timelines to match your business. A 20-person consultancy will apply this differently to a 500-person manufacturer - and that's fine.
The policy sets out what you're working towards, not just where you are today. It gives you a framework for starting to ask suppliers the right questions, and the supplier scorecard helps you assess and compare them even with limited data.
Procurement is typically the largest contributor to Scope 3 emissions. Having a policy in place means you're collecting better data from suppliers, which feeds directly into more accurate carbon reporting. Carbon accounting software can help you turn that procurement data into emissions figures and track reductions over time.
At least once a year. As your carbon data improves and your supplier relationships develop, you'll want to tighten thresholds, update targets, and expand the environmental criteria you're tracking.
Book a demo or get in touch and we'll be happy to help. Or follow this step-by-step guide to measuring your business's carbon footprint.
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