How can you use sustainable procurement to drive positive change?

Esse pensamento não deve estar restrito apenas aos B2C. Trazendo um paralelo das compras para indústrias e poder público, as empresas deverão ter estratégias de governança aliadas à sustentabilidade (ESG) de aquisição de materiais de fornecedores comprometidos com ações sustentáveis. Um ótimo exemplo é a compra de materiais de construção civil oriundos de resíduos recicláveis, uma forma de re-inserir no processo os resíduos da construção (RCC) e diminuir a produção de novos materiais, o que impacta também na diminuição da emissão de GEEs.

This is the tricky part. Sustainability has many facets and it means making tradeoffs. Are you prioritizing low emission products, ethically sourced or a combination of both. Would you prefer a supplier with low emission and a high rate of safety incidents or the opposite? There is no magic formula but having clear goals in mind and your deal-breakers will help you make a decision when the time comes.

In addition to encouragement or terms and clauses, be sure to share your knowledge on sustainability best practices with your suppliers. I've found that often times, we get a lot of things wrong in sustainability due to a lack of knowledge or understanding. Make sure that the core principles of corporate sustainability and procurement are well understood by your suppliers. In the event that you fail to ensure that your suppliers are fully compliant, legal liability could be ascribed to your corporation if something goes terribly wrong. Depending on the circumstances of the case, ESG clauses and terms may not save you if negligence on your part is discovered.

Don't just negotiate, but collaborate with suppliers to find innovative solutions and share best practices. Engage with them to communicate the importance of sustainability and encourage them to adopt responsible practices.

It's important to establish mechanisms for continuous improvement in sustainable procurement practices. Regularly review and update policies, engage with suppliers on improvements, and track progress toward sustainability goals.

Reviewing your process also means continuously evaluating your supplier contracts. Ideally, this exercise should be in lieu or anticipation of evolving sustainability trends, regulations and best practices coupled with prior reports on your supplier due diligence exercises. To make this process easy and fair, always reserve the right to review the ESG contract clauses at reasonable and well-calculated periodic intervals.

Algo que debería introducirse en los productos, considerando que la sostenibilidad es una gran tendencia actual y futura, es impulsar el reconocimiento del impacto de cada producto de consumo, así como los "octógonos" o los "facts nutricionales", reconocer cómo ayuda al planeta el consumo de ese producto. Saber el impacto que tiene y evidenciarlo nos hará ser más conscientes de lo que compramos y cómo estamos ayudando al planeta como a la sociedad. Mientras no se evidencie desde el mismo producto como medio de comunicación, difícilmente cambiaremos la mentalidad de las personas. Porque todos los medios compiten por ganar la atención y al ser uno más el mensaje termina diluido.

Think about coalitions! Corporate buyers and individual consumers can form groups to increase their leverage over a supplier. This can be a strong force for change as a company is more likely to take actions if requested by a large group of customers.