Government focuses on supply chains

In the last two months CDP has teamed up with a range of the UK's major public sector organisations to extend its corporate supply chain work and create a standardised approach to the provision of key climate change information throughout the respective supply chains. The organisations, based in the UK, include:

• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra);
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office;
• The Office of Government Commerce;
• Gloucestershire County Council
• Essex County Council
• London Borough of Islington;
• Leeds City Council; and
• The Victoria and Albert Museum.

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, said "In fighting climate change, we must look beyond the emissions from our own operations and look closely into the products and services we use and the suppliers we work with. I am very pleased that Defra is one of the first organisations to participate in this really important pilot project."

David Miliband, Foreign Secretary, commented: "I am pleased that the FCO, through its collaboration with the Carbon Disclosure Project, is leading government in the area of gaining a better understanding of the impacts of its expenditure decisions on carbon emissions throughout the supply chain. Understanding the carbon emissions and policies of our suppliers will help to embed the sustainability agenda within our procurement decision making."

Cllr Julie Girling, Gloucestershire County Council Cabinet member responsible for the Environment, "Gloucestershire County Council is committed to both minimising our own carbon emissions and working with our partners to reduce emissions from the whole county. We are pleased to be part if this pioneering initiative to understand the carbon impact of council purchasing. We are working with 2,000 of our suppliers to help them understand the impacts of their products and services and so reduce our contribution to further climate change".

Paul Dickinson, CEO of CDP, said: "The public sector has enormous power to shape new markets through its procurement practices and these organisations are showing the way in the development of a low carbon economy. By joining this project the public sector has positioned itself at the cutting edge of this issue and will be learning with the private sector, rather than from it."

The Public Sector Supply Chain Project will identify the carbon footprints within each organisation's supply chain and will lead to a better understanding of the associated risks and opportunities. This information will help participants to formulate strategies in respect of complex issues such as the rise in fuel prices and will serve to communicate to suppliers the fact that climate change is a business issue. By asking the right questions, organisations can help suppliers to focus on areas within the business where there is potential scope for savings and energy efficiencies.

The Carbon Disclosure Project already works with more than 30 multinational private sector companies including Wal-Mart, Tesco, Kellogg's, Heinz, HP and Vodafone. Each public sector member has selected between 20 and 2,000 suppliers to respond to the CDP information request and the project will assimilate an additional 2,500 suppliers, the majority of which are UK based, into the system. Suppliers will have until 31 October 2008 to submit responses and a report on the findings will be published early next year.

The CDP Information Request:

The CDP information request gathers detailed information on companies' supply chains. It encourages suppliers to report carbon footprints and climate change-relevant information, such as greenhouse gas emissions data, emissions reduction targets and climate change strategy. This is the first scheme that allows public sector organisations and corporations to assess the emissions through their supply chain using a standardised methodology. This will significantly reduce the pressure on suppliers who might otherwise receive several requests for similar information. Participating organisations will also complete the same Information Request.

Source: Carbon Disclosure Project