Environmental Metrics

Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)

 Information on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) is

usually one of the key features in a sustainability
report

 GHG emissions are usually reported as a carbon

footprint
 Greenhouse gas emissions include carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide

 Calculating carbon footprint measures all greenhouse

gas emissions associated with the lifecycle of a
product, service, or business operation
 It can be difficult to collect accurate data in order to
calculate a carbon footprint for an individual product
or service, and so, for the company as a whole

 So, standards such as the GHG Protocol are available

to provide organisations with a consistent way of
addressing the problems and reporting their findings
 This GHG Protocol Corporate Standard allows
companies to credibly measure and report emissions
from purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heat
and cooling

 The revised version of the standard was released in

2004 and provides requirements and guidance for
companies and other organisations preparing a
corporate-level GHG emissions inventory
 Th following are the seven greenhouse gases covered by the
Kyoto Protocol and included in the reporting for the standard

 Carbon Dioxide
 Methane
 Nitrous Oxide
 Sulfur hexafluoride
 Perfluorocarbons
 Hydrofluorocarbons
 Nitrogen Trifluoride
(3.3) Greenhouse gases and waste

Figure 3.23 Scope of carbon footprint emissions

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Slide 30
 See Verizon & Goldman Sachs Pdfs
 Organisations report on their carbon footprint:

 for carbon registration and reporting

 to provide data for carbon offset and clean energy projects
 to provide environmental sustainability information to their
stakeholders, including customers
 to identify problem areas to reduce future emissions
Water

 There has been significant development in the

methods for measuring and managing water in recent
years

 The GRI standard has been revised to bring best

practice in water stewardship into reporting
 The GRI standard has a basis in the UN SDG Goal 6
which addresses issues of drinking water, sanitation
and hygiene, as well as the quality and sustainability
of water resources worldwide

 The water footprint concept, sources and

methodology come from the Water Footprint
Network (WFN)
 ‘The water footprint is an indicator of water use that
looks at both direct and indirect water use. The water
footprint of a product (good or service) is the volume
of fresh water used to produce the product, summed
over the various steps of the production chain…The
water footprint of a business consists of its direct
water use, plus its indirect water use i.e. the water
used in the business’ supply chain’
 Two important considerations here:

 Define water metrics clearly

 Measure inputs and output by metering
 See Case on Page 172
Waste

 The metrics used to measure waste vary considerably

across industries as waste can take many forms

 The food, pharmaceutical and other fast-moving consumer

goods (FMCG) industries create masses of waste
packaging material and other industries create waste raw
materials such as steel and aluminium from manufacturing
operations
 Manufacturing industries classify and measure waste
in three ways:

 waste generation in manufacturing and distribution

 waste recovered and recycled
 residual waste sent to landfills
 Data is collected on the amount of waste generated each
year and a total waste footprint is generated

 A waste footprint figure calculation shows the

contribution of primary and secondary packaging —
minus national recycling and recovery rates

 Also accounts for product leftovers, e.g. the product left

behind in the primary pack when a consumer discards it
 See Case Page 173
Social metrics

 Social impacts are more difficult to quantify than

environmental impacts

 In social performance it is input that we normally try to

measure, e.g. employee training

 Social benefits are also time and place dependent and to

some extent, any measures are subjective, due to the lack of
scientific evidence
(3.3) Social and economic metrics

Pages 175 - 176

Figure 3.25 Measurements of social impacts for sustainability reporting

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Slide 31
Metrics

 Does an organisation stimulate the local economy? (Could lead to

increased population income and business opportunity)

 Do organisations attract workers from other regions? (Could cause

migration flows and a change in the local demographic structure)

 Do organisations use local labour? (This is a key driver of

organisations such as Fairtrade, who also ensure that sustainable
market prices are paid for products and that workers are paid a fair
wage and have appropriate working conditions)
 Do organisations employ/have opportunities for all
genders? (A local gender imbalance can undermine
social cohesion)
 Social metrics track an organisation’s performance on
equality, justice and other social impacts

 Statements of social policy goals are usually given rather

than attempting to measure areas such as social benefit
and community impact
 The definition of minority or disadvantaged groups depends on a
country’s infrastructure, its culture and its regional history

 In many countries, these definitions may include the physically

disabled, single parents, the youth, ethnic minorities and people
aged over 50

 Disadvantaged and vulnerable people often lack access to jobs

that can help them earn a living for themselves and their families
 Organisations that operate in regions with a high
concentration of disadvantaged and vulnerable
groups can provide employment, thereby creating a
positive social impact
Which one of these is not a benefit of conducting supplier appraisals?

a. Suppliers that do not conform to an organisation’s minimum

standards can be eliminated from future business opportunities
and tenders
b. A supplier appraisal can delay the process
c. Possible weaknesses in supplier performance can be detected
d. Potential suppliers can be advised of what is expected of them in
the areas of environmental and social sustainability
When sourcing a product by tender and evaluating
suppliers, we consider:

a. Only price and quality

b. Price, quality and technical competence
c. Environmental and social factors as well as financial
and operational factors
d. None of the above
Environmental issues that could be considered in a CSR
project include:

a. Water quality
b. Waste disposal
c. Carbon fuel emissions
d. All of the above
Which of the following is a definition of ‘greenwashing’?

a. When a company actively engages in environmentally friendly

production processes
b. When a company uses misleading corporate spin to promote a
false perception that its products are environmentally friendly
c. When a company only sells Fair Trade products
d. When a company sells products which have been dyed green
Level 3 Socially Responsible Procurement

Learning Outcome (LO)4:

Understand methods to monitor
Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) in procurement and supply

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Slide 34
Learning Outcome 4: Understand methods
to monitor Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) in procurement and supply
4.1 Describe the key methods that can be used to monitor CSR compliance
• Discuss methods such as:
• KPIs
• Audits
• Supplier appraisals
• The use of regulatory frameworks

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Qualifications, they are not to be used for any other purpose and may not be altered, copied, sold or lent to other parties. Copyright ©2018 CIPS
Slide 35
 The CSR Report

 The CSR Report should summarise the company’s programme to

monitor and manage the social and environmental impacts of its
business

 There is no obligation on a company to produce a CSR report (also

known as a sustainability report)

 However, one way that procurement and supply professionals

can monitor the CSR compliance of suppliers and supply chains is
to review the supplier’s annual supplier report
 If the prospective supplier does not produce one,
then this can be made a condition of awarding any
contract

 Despite this, many major organisations may have

reservations about releasing a CSR report and there
are valid reasons why a company might choose not to
publish one
 A lack of stakeholder interest
 Pressure against publication
 A modest social or environmental impact that will be
hard to evidence
 Costs of reporting that outweigh the benefits
 Legitimate concerns about how the information may
be used
 An initial step may be to publish CSR data and metrics
internally, which may give the company a relatively ‘safe’
environment in which to experiment with the CSR metrics

 Such a report informs the reader about the company policy

in relation to the business’ sustainability and impact on the
environment and wider society

 The CSR report becomes the public face of the company’s

efforts in the CSR field
 By acting in an ethical and transparent way, seeking
to benefit society and limiting the negative effect of
its actions throughout its supply chain, an
organisation can actively contribute to the health and
welfare of society and still be a profitable enterprise

 Social media has driven the need for a business to be

‘seen’ to be socially responsible
 https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2019/lush-closing-operations-and-mobilizing-
employees-strike-climate/84926
 Companies are evolving from reacting to the
consequences of their activities to taking proactive
action to limit the effect of those activities

 The CSR report details the goal, the nature of the

action taken and the extent to which the goal has
been achieved