Supply Chain Engagement for Scope 3 Emissions

Overview

Supply chains represent the largest portion of most organizations’ carbon footprints through Scope 3 emissions. This webinar explores collaborative strategies for engaging suppliers on emissions measurement and reduction, building transparent partnerships rather than penalizing suppliers for environmental impact.

What You’ll Learn

1. Mandatory Reporting Transformation

Understand regulatory changes driving supply chain transparency:

• Australia’s AASB standards requiring Scope 3 disclosure
• ISSB global standards creating consistency
• Customer and investor pressure for value chain data
• Procurement policies favoring low-carbon suppliers

2. Scope 3 Emissions Focus

Why indirect supply chain emissions are now critical:

• Often represent 60-90% of total organizational footprint
• Required for comprehensive climate disclosure
• Key to achieving Science Based Targets
• Competitive differentiator in procurement

3. Collaborative Supplier Engagement

Building partnerships through education and resource-sharing:

• Education First: Help suppliers understand carbon accounting basics
• Resource Provision: Provide tools, templates, and guidance
• Capacity Building: Offer training and technical assistance
• Recognition: Acknowledge progress and celebrate improvements
• Long-term Relationships: View as ongoing partnership, not one-time data request

Avoid punitive approaches that damage relationships and reduce cooperation.

4. Transparent Reporting Systems

Standardized frameworks for collecting and comparing emissions data:

• Common questionnaires and data formats
• Emissions factor databases for estimation
• Primary data requests for key suppliers
• Spend-based fallbacks for long-tail suppliers
• Quality scoring to track data improvement

5. Proactive Procurement Integration

Setting clear sustainability expectations:

• New Supplier Onboarding: Include carbon disclosure in RFP and contracting
• Existing Supplier Requirements: Phase in data requests with support
• Evaluation Criteria: Incorporate carbon performance in supplier scoring
• Reduction Targets: Set joint goals with strategic suppliers
• Incentive Alignment: Reward emissions reductions and transparency

6. Technology Solutions

Leveraging platforms for automated data management:

• Supplier Portals: Self-service questionnaire completion
• Data Validation: Automated quality checks and flagging
• Progress Tracking: Dashboards showing supplier engagement rates
• Benchmarking: Compare supplier performance against sector averages
• Integration: Connect to procurement systems for spend data

NetNada’s transparency hub demonstrates these capabilities in action.

Who Should Attend

• Procurement Leaders setting supplier sustainability requirements
• Sustainability Managers collecting Scope 3 data
• Supply Chain Directors managing supplier relationships
• Category Managers engaging specific supplier segments
• ESG Consultants advising on supplier programs

Key Q&A Topics Addressed

Integrating Carbon into Procurement: How to incorporate emissions into sourcing decisions alongside price, quality, and delivery.

Handling Non-Compliant Suppliers: Strategies for suppliers refusing to provide data or failing to improve performance.

Prioritizing High-Impact Suppliers: Focus on suppliers contributing largest emissions (often 80/20 rule applies).

Scope 3 Goal-Setting: Approaches to setting credible reduction targets when you don’t control the value chain.

Data Collection Sequencing: Whether to start with high-spend, high-emission, or strategic suppliers first.

Practical Frameworks

Supplier Segmentation

Tier 1 - Strategic Suppliers (5-10% of suppliers, 50-70% of spend/emissions):

• Request primary emissions data
• Conduct joint reduction projects
• Annual engagement and reporting
• Include in SBTi target coverage

Tier 2 - Important Suppliers (20-30% of suppliers, 20-30% of spend/emissions):

• Standardized questionnaires
• Semi-annual data collection
• Basic support and guidance
• Encourage improvement over time

Tier 3 - Long-Tail Suppliers (60-75% of suppliers, 5-10% of spend/emissions):

• Spend-based estimation using industry factors
• Annual or biennial questionnaires
• Self-service portal access
• Focus on awareness and education

Engagement Timeline

Month 1-2: Internal preparation, stakeholder alignment, platform setup

Month 3-4: Tier 1 supplier outreach, customized requests, relationship meetings

Month 5-6: Tier 2 supplier questionnaires, webinars, support materials

Month 7-9: Tier 3 supplier awareness campaign, portal invitations

Month 10-12: Data consolidation, quality scoring, gap filling with estimates

Ongoing: Annual updates, improvement tracking, reduction collaboration

Resources Provided

• Supplier Questionnaire Template: Standardized emissions data request
• Presentation Slides: October 2, 2024 supply chain engagement deck (Canva)
• Engagement Playbook: Step-by-step supplier outreach guide
• Email Templates: Customizable communications for different supplier tiers

About the Speaker

Lochie Burke is Co-founder of NetNada, where he leads product development for supply chain carbon accounting. With experience helping hundreds of organizations engage suppliers, Lochie specializes in collaborative engagement strategies that build long-term transparency rather than short-term data extraction.

Related Resources

• NetNada Transparency Hub: Supplier portal for automated data collection
• Scope 3 Calculator: Estimate value chain emissions by category
• Supplier Engagement Guide: Comprehensive best practices documentation