The We Mean Business Coalition has launched the Supplier Cascade programme in a bid to accelerate the pace at which businesses reduce their Scope 3 emissions. In partnership with consultancy firm BSR, global non-profit disclosure platform CDP, investor network Ceres and energy supplier EDF, and in collaboration with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the approach aims to create a cascade of action through business supply chains, with each company committing to asking tier one suppliers to make a credible science-aligned net zero commitment, publicly report their decarbonisation progress, and ask their own tier one suppliers to make the same commitment. Businesses that have made science-based targets are invited to become early adopters of the Supplier Cascade, with support provided and key metrics collected to track the impact of the approach. Maria Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, said: “By joining the Supplier Cascade and encouraging their tier one suppliers to do the same, businesses can send a clear message to incentivise action and increase organisational resilience. Businesses can also increasingly draw on the reporting of their suppliers – and suppliers draw on the reporting of their suppliers – to have more specific and available data on climate action in their upstream supply chain.” She added that the approach does not require the visibility of the entire supply chain and does not require deep technical knowledge, providing businesses with more flexibility in how they want to engage and incentivise their suppliers. “Importantly, once this approach has been taken to scale, it generates climate action far beyond a company’s own supply chain,” she said.
