Q&A: Amazon Business on ESG in Supply Chain & Procurement

Scope 3 emissions, which include indirect emissions across the supply chain, are facing tighter scrutiny under new regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Meeting these requirements is no small feat, and procurement teams have a pivotal role to play. By embedding ESG principles into purchasing strategies, businesses can make meaningful progress. However, navigating this shift is complex.

Amy Worth, Director and General Manager of Amazon Business UK, brings more than two decades of experience driving innovation at Amazon.

She leads teams supporting large public and private sector clients, helping them achieve greater efficiency and impact. Amy’s career spans leadership across APAC and EU markets, building teams, driving growth and creating exceptional customer solutions.

In this conversation, we delve into the critical role ESG considerations play in procurement and how businesses can rise to the challenge of reducing Scope 3 emissions.

Why is it important to focus on ESG in procurement?

Organisations around the world are increasingly realising that ESG is no longer just a necessary business goal, but adopting sustainable practices and developing ESG initiatives can be a proactive enabler of long-term success.

With up to 90% of a company's carbon footprint linked to its supply chain, procurement is a good department to prioritise in order to effectively progress ESG ambitions.

New legislation is being rolled out all the time to mandate ESG adoption.

In the EU, public sector organisations are now required to consider environmental and social factors in their procurement decisions, with failure to comply resulting in legal repercussions.

In the UK, public sector organisations are required to evaluate ESG within their procurement through the use of a 'social value model', with a minimum weighting of 10% given to ESG objectives in each purchase.

But new legislation doesn’t need to be viewed as a burden for organisations and neither should it be the sole motivator for businesses to make more sustainable choices.

Consumer awareness and demand for social value is also rising. A third of consumers now say their trust in a brand would improve if they had a socially and environmentally responsible supply chain, while research has shown that sustainable procurement results in as much as a 15-30% increase in brand value.

So, while integrating ESG into procurement is important from both an ethical and regulatory perspective, there's also a compelling business case for ESG.

Simply put, businesses that implement ESG into their procurement strategy have a lot to gain – a competitive edge being one of them.

What are some of the challenges in implementing ESG measures?

Implementing ESG into procurement is not without its challenges and aligning operations with ESG principles can be a significant undertaking. Leaders can feel overwhelmed when overhauling their entire organisation to meet these new expectations.

Resistance to change can arise throughout the organisation.

To tackle this, procurement leaders need to secure senior leadership buy-in by highlighting the value ESG can create, then encourage them further by getting end users on board with more efficient processes that lead to positive change. But this change doesn’t happen overnight and it can’t just come from one person.

By adopting cultural change from the top which inspires operational shifts throughout the business, organisations can engage stakeholders at all levels, moving past entrenched practices and cultural norms towards a better future.

How can procurement professionals get ESG support from senior leadership?

Senior leadership buy-in is essential for procurement teams to drive the necessary cultural and procedural changes required to make a real difference.

Research has found that ESG can support cash flow by attracting customers with a more sustainable offering, as well as achieving better access to resources through stronger community and government relations. The research also found it can increase employee productivity and attract and retain quality talent by instilling a sense of purpose. 

Making the tangible benefits of implementing ESG into procurement operations clear to senior leadership is vital as it ensures any changes can be of a significant enough scale (backed by the right people) to make a difference.

How can businesses implement ESG in procurement?

Procurement leaders can overcome resistance to change by introducing new infrastructure in an unobtrusive way to quietly move people to new processes and make it a seamless transition for them. One way of doing this is introducing criteria for purchasing and ensuring purchases align with ESG principles.

For example, in the public sector, factoring in where organisations are buying from to ensure that purchases improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their communities is of great importance.

The 2023 Procurement Act, which is set to come into effect in early 2025, seeks to overhaul public procurement law in the UK by simplifying processes and giving a greater share of public sector supply opportunities to SMEs. This will have a significant impact, particularly as research found that in 2023, SMEs received only 20% of the public sector’s procurement spend.

To help champion local businesses and invest in their community, procurement leaders are now able to set filters that highlight local sellers. For example, by using Amazon Business’ ‘Buy Local’ filter, businesses are able to help local sellers to succeed and make more jobs available. Buying locally also has a wider impact on ESG as it means that there is less transport involved and therefore less of a carbon impact.

Similar to the ‘Buy Local’ feature, Amazon Business also has tools for sourcing environmentally friendly products, enabling businesses to easily filter searches to steer them towards products or suppliers that align with sustainability goals.

By using these tools, businesses can ensure purchases align with ESG goals without causing an increase in workload for procurement teams. When these teams do get on board with these changes, it encourages middle management too by showing them ESG doesn’t have to impact their ever-crucial budgets.

In today's evolving business landscape, the integration of ESG principles in procurement is not just a moral imperative, but a strategic necessity. Companies that fail to embrace these practices risk being left behind as new regulations tighten and consumer expectations rise. It’s important that organisations can get all employees on board with putting ESG at the forefront of operations.

By prioritising ESG, organisations can unlock significant value including enhanced brand reputation, reduced costs, and long-term resilience. Those that choose to lead with ESG in procurement will not only comply with emerging standards, but will also thrive in a world that increasingly values sustainability and social responsibility.

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