Sustainable purchasing: how to choose suppliers with lower climate impact

This is called scope 3, and for most businesses it accounts for an average of 70–90 percent of total climate impact¹.

The good news: you don't need to know exactly where every emission occurs to start making a difference. You can start setting requirements and asking questions of your suppliers today — and there are concrete tools to help you do it.

Why supplier choice matters

When you buy a service or product, you also take on responsibility for the emissions from that service or product. If you choose sustainable suppliers that measure their climate impact and actively work to reduce it — you help drive the transition forward. If you choose one that isn't focused on sustainability, you bear responsibility for those emissions.

It's not about being perfect. It's about moving in the right direction and rewarding the suppliers doing the same. As more large companies impose sustainability requirements on their subcontractors — and as sustainability reporting regulation tightens — your choice of suppliers will also become part of how your business is assessed.

What to ask your suppliers

You don't need to be a climate expert to start setting requirements. Here are examples of concrete questions to use in supplier dialogue or procurement processes:

• Do you measure your climate impact? A supplier that doesn't measure can't improve — and can't provide you with data for your own reporting. Calculating emissions at a minimum is a reasonable baseline requirement for any serious business partner.

• Do you have a climate target? Even better are sustainable suppliers who don't just measure but have also set a target — ideally aligned with the Paris Agreement. One tool for this is the Science Based Targets framework (SBTi), which helps organisations set emissions targets in line with what science requires to reach the 1.5-degree goal².

• Can you share your sustainability data? Ask for a summary or report. A supplier that can share concrete information — not just a sustainability policy on a webpage — takes the work seriously.

• What does your energy mix look like? Does the supplier use renewable electricity? This directly affects your emissions and is often straightforward information to obtain.

Practical principles for sustainable purchasing

• Prioritise local where relevant. Shorter transport routes should not automatically be seen as climate-smart. The production process and country of origin often play a greater role in total climate impact than the entire transport leg³. A locally manufactured product with energy-intensive production can have a higher carbon footprint than an imported product made using renewable energy. There is therefore good reason to take a holistic view.

• Make renewable energy a requirement. Suppliers that use renewable electricity — and can document it — contribute to lower emissions. This should be a concrete requirement, not just a wish.

• Think lifecycle, not just price. A cheaper product with a shorter lifespan can have a higher total climate impact. Factor in maintenance, energy consumption, and what happens at the end of the product's life — these are sustainability aspects easily overlooked in a standard purchasing decision.

• Avoid the greenwashing trap. Vague sustainability claims without underlying data aren't enough. Always ask for factual evidence — and pay attention to whether the communication is about targets versus actual results.

Step by step: how to work with sustainable purchasing

1. Identify your largest purchasing categories of goods and services — that's where climate impact is greatest and where the right requirements deliver the most effect.
2. Rank suppliers according to whether they measure and report on their sustainability.
3. Start a dialogue with the most important ones. Ask questions, engage, set requirements, and give preference to those already leading the way.
4. Document your purchases so they can be linked to emissions data — this makes your own reporting easier.
5. Gradually reprioritise — switching suppliers takes time, but you can already start directing more purchasing toward those further along in their sustainability work.
6. Follow up — requirements that are set must be followed up. Build sustainability dialogue in as a natural part of the relationship, not just during procurement.

The link to your sustainability report

If you're reporting under VSME or another framework, scope 3 — indirect emissions from the supply chain — is an important part of the picture. The better information you have about your suppliers' climate impact, the more credible and complete your report will look. It's also a way to show that sustainability isn't just in policy documents — but in the choices you actually make every day.

Want to get a handle on your supplier emissions?

With GoClimate, your purchases are automatically linked to relevant emissions data via invoices and receipts. You shouldn't have to spend hours on manual data collection — the tool does it for you, so you can focus on making better decisions and setting smarter requirements.

👉 Try GoClimate for full visibility into your supplier emissions.