PSC LIVE: Sustainability – Q&A with Megan Youngs, NatWest
Speaking from the QEII Centre during Procurement & Supply Chain: Sustainability, the premier two-day event focused on sustainable supply chain practices, Megan Youngs, Scope 3 Reporting Manager at NatWest, shared valuable insights on NatWest's approach to Scope 3 emissions reporting and management.
The conference has drawn industry professionals from leading global companies, all seeking to develop robust Scope 3 emission strategies and forge meaningful connections with sustainability pioneers.
Megan sat down with Procurement Magazine to discuss how NatWest is implementing sustainable efforts within its procurement and supply chain operations.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your kind of sustainability journey?
I started in sustainability six years ago. I started as an environmental intern at my university undertaking waste management and then from there went on to energy consultancy and then Scope 3 consultancy. I was a consultant for around four years and then moved to an in-house job at NatWest this time last year.
You've just come from your panel discussing Scope 3 strategies. How did that go and what was spoken about?
It was really nice because we had such a mix of different businesses. There was someone from the Marine Industry, the Hospitality sector, a software provider and then a bank. It was really good to hear from their points of view and we all had quite similar challenges and opportunities that we all identified.
How are NatWest implementing Scope 3 strategies in their procurement and supply chain function?
We are focusing on our top emitting suppliers at the moment. They make up around 70% of our supply chain emissions. Using data that we've collected from suppliers over the last few years via CDP and annual reports, we are identifying hotspots for engagement, going out to suppliers, asking them, ‘What's your blocker? How can we help?’
We're at the start of that journey. So when we complete another year of engagement this year, hopefully we'll have even more conversations and partnership opportunities for decarbonisation with our suppliers.
How can businesses strike the right balance between sustainability goals and procurement costs?
So making sure that you are considering sustainability as part of your tendering process and ensuring that there are questions for suppliers that have sustainability in them, but also create that business as usual approach. It's not the total decision maker when considering a supplier but building it into that process is a good place to start.
Looking ahead, how do you expect Scope three strategies to evolve over the next 12 months?
Over the next 12 months, ensuring our supply chain managers are really pushing for those conversations and upskilling our supply chain managers in those conversations and how they should be having them.
I think the use of technology will be a big player, so using multiple software tools to help make decisions and turn all of that data – hopefully good quality data – into good quality decisions. I feel like it's moving away from methodology and now into the actual doing and using data to inform decisions on how we are going to decarbonise.
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