Summary of best practices
Effectively engaging suppliers is crucial for achieving sustainability goals and improving supply chain efficiency. Suppliers are a critical stakeholder in a company’s Scope 3 emissions and engaging them in your SME’s sustainability strategy will help your organization achieve its sustainability goals.
Here are some notable strategies SMEs can use:
| Get to know your supply chain | Take a moment to map out who your suppliers are, where and how they operate, and the sustainability and environmental risks or opportunities they pose. |
| Set clear goals and expectations for your suppliers | Clearly communicate your sustainability and operational goals to suppliers across your supply chain. Ensure they understand the importance of their role in achieving these objectives. |
| Collaborate with suppliers | Treat suppliers as strategic partners in your sustainability strategy rather than just vendors. Foster open communication and collaboration towards shared goals. |
| Provide training and support to suppliers | Offer training programs and resources to help suppliers understand how to meet your sustainability standards. On-the-ground support can also be beneficial. |
| Use technology for data collection | Implement user-friendly platforms to digitize processes and simplify data capture. This reduces the administrative burden on suppliers and improves data accuracy. |
| Offer incentives and recognition | Provide incentives such as bonus payments, machinery rentals, or long-term contracts to motivate suppliers to engage in sustainability initiatives. Reward suppliers who show progress towards your sustainability goals. |
| Provide suppliers with regular feedback | Establish a feedback loop to continuously improve supplier performance. Regularly review and discuss progress and adjust as needed. |
Get to know your supply chain
Understanding your suppliers is the foundation of successful Scope 3 engagement.
How to put this into practice:
- Identify all Tier 1 suppliers, then map upstream tiers where possible. Include location, industry, product/service type, and any known environmental risks (e.g., emissions-intensive processes, high energy use, water-stressed regions).
- Rank suppliers based on the value of purchases or strategic importance to pinpoint where emissions are likely concentrated.
- Identify which supplier categories contribute most to Scope 3 emissions (e.g., construction materials, transportation, purchased goods).
- Leverage existing tools like CDP supply chain questionnaires and the GHG Protocol’s Scope 3 screening methods.
- Prioritize suppliers with the largest emissions footprint, highest risk, or biggest improvement potential.
Set clear goals and expectations for your suppliers
Suppliers need to understand not only what data you need, but why it matters and how it contributes to shared success.
How to put this into practice:
- Provide vendors with a Supplier Sustainability Code of Conduct outlining your company’s emissions reporting expectations.
- Define what constitutes Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 from the supplier perspective.
- Clearly communicate minimum and advanced expectations for reported data.
- Keep communication lines with suppliers open and active by hosting webinars, sending guidance documents, and sharing timelines for reporting.
- Include sustainability clauses in new or renewed contracts requiring GHG data reporting.
Collaborate with suppliers
Engagement works best when suppliers see themselves as partners in your sustainability journey, rather than as respondents to data requests.
How to put this into practice:
- Hold joint planning calls to discuss challenges, co-develop solutions, and set mutually agreed-upon targets.
- Share best practices from other suppliers or your own operations (e.g., energy audits, efficiency upgrades).
- Explore joint initiatives such as low-carbon materials, shared renewable energy systems, or optimized logistics.
- Bring similar suppliers together to discuss shared challenges around data reporting.
- Share your Scope 3 progress reports so suppliers see how their data contributes.
Provide training and support to suppliers
Many suppliers—especially SMEs—lack the knowledge, capacity, or tools to accurately report emissions. Training can significantly improve data quality.
How to put this into practice:
- Offer step-by-step data collection templates (e.g., Excel sheets, emissions factor libraries).
- Provide emissions calculation training on topics such as GHG Protocol basics, how to measure energy use, and emissions factor selection.
- Run hands-on workshops for suppliers on collecting and reporting reliable data.
- Offer regular drop-in sessions where suppliers can ask questions.
- Deploy on-the-ground support teams (e.g., auditors or sustainability specialists) to assist with data gathering, where feasible.
Use technology for data collection
Digital tools can significantly reduce the burden on suppliers and help standardize the quality of data you receive.
How to put this into practice:
- Adopt supplier sustainability platforms (e.g., Sustainabill, SupplyShift, EcoVadis, FigBytes).
- Develop a simple online portal that centralizes data submission, templates, and guidance.
- Automate data capture, using approaches such as API integration with supplier energy meters and barcode or QR-based tracking for materials
- Make it easy for suppliers to submit energy bills, fuel records, or production logs through bulk uploads.
- Use automated validation checks to flag outliers or missing data before suppliers finalize submissions.
Offer incentives and recognition
Motivation increases when suppliers see clear benefits for participating in your sustainability efforts.
How to put this into practice:
- Offer financial incentives to suppliers such as bonus payments for verified emissions reductions, priority access to long-term contracts, or cost-sharing for energy-efficient equipment.
- Offer operational incentives to suppliers such as preferential supplier status, public recognition in sustainability reports, or awards programs.
- Offer capacity incentives to suppliers such as access to technical experts, free or subsidized audits, or access to shared renewable energy purchasing programs.
Provide regular feedback to suppliers
Continuous improvement helps suppliers build capacity year over year and strengthens the overall supply chain.
How to put this into practice:
- Provide suppliers with annual performance scorecards documenting emissions intensity, completeness of data, and year-over-year trends.
- Hold quarterly review meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and areas needing support.
- Share benchmarking insights to show suppliers how they compare with peers and drive friendly competition.
- Co-create improvement plans by identifying practical steps for reducing emissions or improving data quality.
- Allow suppliers to gradually move from basic data reporting to advanced life cycle assessments.
