The Missing link: Harnessing the power of purchasing for a sustainable future report from CDP, written in partnership with BSR and the Carbon Trust, reveals that reductions equivalent to 434 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – more than France’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2014 – were achieved by suppliers worldwide in 2016. 

The reductions were disclosed to CDP, at the request of 89 of the world’s largest purchasing organizations, including BMW, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Walmart. These 89 big buyers wield a combined purchasing power of US$2.7 trillion. 
 

The new report reveals the names of the 29 companies awarded a position on CDP’s first ever supplier engagement leader board. Selected from over 3,300 companies that were assessed, they are recognized as leaders for their work with suppliers to reduce emissions and lower climate-related risks in the supply chain. 
 

The report, which analyses climate and water-related data disclosed by more than 4,300 companies, also indicates that the sustainability commitments and practices of leading organizations are not being replicated at scale downwards through the supply chain. Despite a 20% increase since 2015 in the number of big buyers requesting climate and water-related data from their suppliers, this is not translating into downstream action, with only 22% of responding companies currently engaging with their own suppliers on carbon emissions and 16% engaging with their suppliers on water use. 
 

Where companies are proactively engaging with their suppliers, they face a serious lack of transparency, with nearly half (47%) of suppliers not responding to their customers’ requests for climate and water-related disclosure.