Why integrate suppliers into your responsible purchasing strategy?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is no longer just an option; it is now part of stakeholder expectations, growing obligations, and global environmental and social challenges. 

All companies are concerned and have a role to play in meeting these global challenges. 

To have a real impact, it's not enough to focus on your own activities, you have to look at your entire value chain. Many of the social, environmental and ethical impacts associated with your activities can be found upstream or downstream, in your value chain. 

Engaging your suppliers in this dynamic is therefore an essential lever for implementing your responsible purchasing strategy and maximizing your CSR efforts.

In this article, we'll show you the major advantages of including your value chain in your responsible purchasing approach. On the agenda: 

• Definition of a responsible purchasing strategy,
• Meet regulatory requirements,
• Refine your carbon footprint for a better low-carbon strategy,
• Managing risks,
• Build long-term relationships with suppliers.

It's impossible to implement an ambitious CSR approach without including a key link in your organization: your value chain, and more specifically your suppliers.

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What is a responsible purchasing strategy?

A responsible purchasing strategy enables you to structure and organize your purchasing decisions so that they take social, environmental and ethical criteria into account, in addition to the usual economic criteria (cost, quality or lead times).

In concrete terms, this involves several key actions:

• Define clear objectives: for example, reduce the carbon footprint of purchasing, favor local suppliers or encourage the purchase of eco-responsible products.
• Integrate CSR criteria into the supplier selection process, such as waste management, respect for human rights and transparency on ethical practices.
• Evaluate and support suppliers in a continuous improvement process to help them make progress on these issues.
• Prioritize certain types of purchases: for example, recycled materials, renewable energies or certified products (Fair Trade, ISO 14001, etc.).

Implementing a sustainable purchasing strategy enables you to use purchasing leverage to support sustainable practices. This not only helps you meet your CSR objectives, but also creates long-term value.

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The benefits of including suppliers in your sustainable purchasing strategy

Meeting growing regulatory requirements

Regulations such as the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and CS3D (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) require companies to monitor, control and improve the CSR impact of their value chain. It's no longer just a question of good will: you have a legal responsibility to monitor the social, environmental and ethical practices of your suppliers.

The CSRD is a European directive requiring companies to publish detailed reports on their sustainability impact. It replaces the NFRD (Non-Financial Reporting Directive) and extends the criteria for its application to 50,000 companies in Europe. The CSRD requires companies to include information on their value chain, including Scope 3 emissions (those generated by suppliers).

The CS3D, for its part, imposes a duty of vigilance on major companies throughout their value chain, particularly with regard to human rights, environmental impacts and ethics.

By committing your value chain to your CSR approach, you :

• Anticipate current and future regulatory requirements,
• Reduce the legal and financial risks associated with non-compliance,
• Give your sustainability reports extra credibility.

Refine your Scope 3 emissions calculations

A company's carbon footprint is a tool that measures the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by its activities. It helps identify the main sources of emissions, with a view to reducing them.

Emissions are classified into three scopes:

• Scope 1 : Direct emissions, such as those from company vehicles or facilities.
• Scope 2 : Indirect emissions linked to energy consumption, such as electricity or heating.
• Scope 3 : Broader indirect emissions linked to the value chain (suppliers, transport, product use, etc.).

Scope 3, which includes indirect emissions linked to your supply chain, can represent up to 70% of your company's total emissions.

By working hand-in-hand with your suppliers to accurately estimate their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, you can refine your own calculations and identify concrete levers for reducing your carbon footprint.

Without their commitment, even your company's most ambitious efforts will remain insufficient, as the majority of emissions come from your value chain.

Schneider Electric, for example, actively involves its suppliers in its CSR approach, helping them to reduce their emissions. Thanks to its "Zero Carbon Project" program, the company is helping 1,000 of its main suppliers to achieve decarbonization targets, which contributes directly to reducing its own Scope 3.

Managing risks in your value chain 

Every link in your value chain is a strategic lever, but also a potential source of risk. By collaborating with more mature suppliers on CSR issues, you reduce threats such as :

• Social risks: exploitation of workers, child labor, accidents.
• Environmental risks: pollution, destruction of ecosystems.
• Ethical risks: corruption, fraud, money laundering.

A responsible supply chain is also more resilient in the face of global crises and disruptions, becoming a competitive advantage.

Take, for example, Carrefour, which has been confronted with ethical risks linked to its value chain. The company has been embroiled in scandals concerning fraud on the quality of certain products in its supply chain. This not only tarnished its image, but also highlighted the need to strengthen control practices over its suppliers to avoid these risks. Carrefour has since integrated responsible purchasing practices to improve the traceability and transparency of its supply chain.

Build lasting relationships with your suppliers

Adopting the stance of a partner, rather than simply an order giver, changes the dynamic with your suppliers. Relationships based on trust and the long term strengthen :

• Supply chain resilience in an uncertain environment.
• Joint innovation, because committed suppliers invest more to meet your expectations.
• Mutual loyalty, essential for building a sustainable CSR strategy.

Involving your suppliers in your responsible purchasing approach creates a virtuous circle, where everyone benefits from collective efforts.

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Conclusion

Adopting a responsible purchasing approach is not just a way of meeting regulatory requirements or improving your carbon footprint, it's also a strategic opportunity. By engaging your suppliers in this dynamic, you strengthen the resilience of your supply chain, reduce your risks and build lasting relationships based on trust and innovation.

Responsible purchasing enables you to transform your CSR commitments into concrete actions throughout your value chain. By integrating them fully into your strategy, you send out a strong signal: that of a proactive company, ready to meet the environmental and social challenges of today and tomorrow.