Can you trust the emissions data your supplier uploaded?

As you return from Christmas and see all the wonderful replies to your #supplier #ESG questionnaires 😉 

Data validity is a real problem in supplier engagement, but it's not that simple. 

👉 On one hand, how can you trust self-reported numbers or survey answers? 

👉 On the other hand, if we demand to get every single data point third-party audited and verified, we'll burry the supplier and won't get anywhere. 

How do we think about it? A balanced act of #pragmatism, #risk and #trust.

1️⃣ The first one is basic, but almost everyone fail to do it. We need to first be able to read the existing audits and certifications the supplier has gone through. 

E.g. when we pick up emissions numbers automatically from a supplier's sustainability report, we also look for whether the number has been verified by third parties like the The Carbon Trust or EY. 

We also understand how some accreditations are 100% self-assessed, some based on spot checks (e.g. BCorp), "document audits" (e.g. some of Ecovadis), physical audits (e.g. some of Amfori BSCI), and so on. 

Once we truly understand the quality of the data baseline we recommend our customers proceed with risk and trust.

2️⃣ Risk; in some cases a supplier is in a fairly low risk region for #childlabor or is not in an #emissions intensive industry and is fairly low #spend. 

3️⃣ Trust; in other cases, you may know the supplier very well, have a good long-standing relationship and gut feeling about the supplier's ethics when disclosing data. 

Don't underestimate the human element and your own ability to "sniff out" a suspicious number. 

This requires the supplier engagement to sit with the category manager owning the supplier relationship - not centrally with the sustainability team.

Both 2️⃣ and 3️⃣ is your basis for #prioritization. 

Finally, also view the sustainability collaboration as a journey. Back to the emissions example; maybe step 1 is to get the supplier to calculate their emissions. 

Step 2 to set targets to reduce. 

Step 3 to hold them accountable to reaching those targets. 

Step 4 to demand more evidence behind their reductions, like e.g. committing to Science Based Targets initiative. 

And so on. 

Just don't start with the last step; you'll never get going on your supply chain sustainability journey.