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Focus on Sustainable Procurement Intensifies Across The Globe, According to EcoVadis/HEC Barometer SurveyPARIS and NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainable procurement programs are more integral and widespread than ever before, but face a critical juncture as they scale to reach the next level of maturity, according to the results of the new EcoVadis/HEC Sustainable Procurement Barometer. "Sustainable procurement is no longer a nice-to-have – it's an integral business function responsible for protecting and improving brand reputation, driving revenue and mitigating business risk," said Pierre-François Thaler, co-CEO of EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains. "In order to scale up, the mature programs are investing in embedding sustainability into processes across their procurement organizations. One key outcome of this benchmark study is to help inform and inspire all organizations to accelerate their progress toward leadership, and realize the rewards and ROI." The EcoVadis/HEC research – which was compiled through a survey of 120 supply chain professionals globally – found that almost all organizations (97 percent) place a high level of importance on sustainable procurement. This continues the upward trajectory of previous years, illustrating how established the field has become in less than 10 years' time. Sustainable procurement becomes widespread, with intentions to scale The EcoVadis/HEC study also found that organizations collecting sustainability dta are actively using the intelligence to guide sourcing decisions. "By making CSR data a key factor in the sourcing process, organizations are incentivizing suppliers to be more sustainable and act more responsibly across the board," said Thaler. "The more procurement teams push to integrate sustainability in their daily roles and decisions, the greater – and faster – the trickle-down effect will be on a global scale." Challenges shift, but still need to be addressed In 2017, the two largest obstacles for sustainable procurement programs were a lack of internal resources and difficulty tracking supplier sustainability performance. Supplier commitment, on the other hand, was not found to be a primary challenge. In fact, only 14 percent of suppliers reported that they were not incentivized by buyers to be sustainable and socially responsible. "With the right tools, executive support and supplier engagement, an organization can launch a sustainable procurement program and put a basic program in place, but it's not enough. To drive to full ROI and value creation requires much higher coverage, and this means getting the rest of the organization to adopt sustainable procurement in their daily jobs - in procurement, supply chain, risk management and EH&S, to name a few. This is an internal change management challenge and it takes time," said Thaler. For a complete look at the sustainable procurement landscape today – including analysis on business drivers, implementation challenges, program maturity, the supplier perspective, and more – download the full 2017 Ecovadis/HEC Sustainable Procurement Barometer Report, "Scaling Up Sustainable Procurement: A New Phase of Expansion Must Begin". About EcoVadis About the Sustainable Procurement Barometer Press Inquiries UK/EU: David McClintock To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/focus-on-sustainable-procurement-intensifies-across-the-globe-according-to-ecovadishec-barometer-survey-300403189.html SOURCE EcoVadis |