CIPS Sustainable Procurement Tool

Sustainable procurement not only helps minimise the impact
of business on the environment, but also benefits any organisation’s reputation
and the wider economy. Demand for ‘greener’ products is forcing change across
the supply chain and suppliers need to adapt to maintain and win new business.

With over 50 percent of an average company’s carbon emissions typically
coming from its supply chain, businesses keen to be more sustainable need to
focus on what their suppliers are doing as well as what they do
themselves.

The CIPS Sustainability Review tool enables businesses to
measure the sustainability of their supply chain and for suppliers to
demonstrate this to customers. The new tool is a response to increasing demand
from businesses for help to benchmark their purchasing performance and progress
towards putting sustainable procurement at the heart of their organisations.

Through a detailed audited analysis of responses to a series of survey
questions, the organisation’s procurement can be rated at Gold, Silver, Bronze
or entry-level standard across aspects of environmental, social and economic
policy and procedure. At the end of the review, a comprehensive report is
provided and an auditor will provide advice on what is required to maintain or
improve results.

Designed to be completed on an annual basis, the CIPS
Sustainability Review tool also helps to support BS8903 Procurement
Sustainability guidance standard and its application in the real
world.

Organisations that have signed up to the Mayor of London’s Green
Procurement Code have been successful in reducing spending on utilities,
services and supplies by between 30-40%, in addition to reducing overall
emissions, water usage and waste. The CIPS Sustainability Review tool is an
updated version of this Code, with additional socio-economic aspects to help
organisations across the UK and abroad.

A recent survey by CIPS in the
UK showed 55% of businesses now have a sustainability policy with pressure from
public sector customers and stakeholders the most popular reason for introducing
them (37%).

One in five (20%) respondents said that the most important
driver was the need to conserve natural resources to cut costs. However, whilst
a significant proportion say they are seeking to source finished goods, raw
materials and business services sustainably, 44 % say that they do not measure
the impact of sustainable procurement.

More than one in ten (11%)
companies feel that poor planning and lack of corporate buy-in is hampering
their company’s sustainability strategy for the future.

David Noble,
Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said: “Our
members are increasingly aware of the benefits of sustainable procurement, not
only to meet regulations, but as a strategic contributor in planning for future
innovation and profit, following the lead of trail-blazers such as Unliever,
Vodafone, and M&S.

“However, demonstrating the cost-benefits of
fully-integrated sustainability within the business, and furthermore across
industries and the economy as a whole is hard to do due to the complex nature of
business itself and the uncertain environment in which they are increasingly
operating. This tool will help by not only measuring the effectiveness of
sustainable procurement programmes but also help develop a framework for
improvements.”