WEF: CPOs Hold the Key to Sustainable Supply Chains
CPOs are key to reshaping the corporate landscape, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Once limited to transactional roles focused on cost and efficiency, these leaders now play a pivotal part in embedding sustainability into supply chains.
By fostering collaboration and innovation, they are helping organisations tackle pressing challenges like emissions reduction and social equity.
A role evolving with sustainability
As WEF highlights, the role of procurement has transformed significantly over the past two decades. Previously defined by speed and cost-effectiveness, it now demands a focus on environmental and social goals.
Sustainability has driven this shift, requiring procurement leaders to collaborate across departments and with suppliers to address complex challenges.
Vattenfall’s Björn Stenecker explains that sustainability has moved procurement from traditional buyer-seller dynamics to partnerships fostering innovation.
At Vattenfall, these partnerships include working with steel producers to develop carbon-free materials, a step aligned with the company’s goal to halve its scope three emissions—those originating from its suppliers.
While Vattenfall may not directly purchase materials like steel or cement, it ensures its suppliers meet stringent sustainability standards.
Such initiatives exemplify the changing responsibilities of CPOs. By influencing supplier practices, procurement teams contribute significantly to their organisations’ environmental targets.
Similarly, Bertrand Conqueret from Henkel asserts: “Procurement is leading sustainability into the upstream part of the value chain. No one else is doing it. It’s us.”
Craig Reed, Vice President Global Procurement and CPO, Thermo Fisher Scientific, adds: “If I can leave a solid foundation that’s grounded in sustainability, the regulatory side of it, the social side of it… then I've done my part.”
Procurement’s expanding impact
WEF highlights that CPOs are uniquely positioned to address both environmental and social challenges through the supply chain.
By promoting fair wages, ethical sourcing and traceability, procurement leaders enhance transparency and equity. Their role extends into shaping long-term organisational strategies, ensuring sustainability becomes a core business principle.
For procurement to deliver on these objectives, leadership buy-in is critical.
Björn stresses the importance of integrating procurement into a company’s broader CO2 reduction strategy, a view WEF supports.
It notes that supply chains often hold the greatest potential for environmental impact. To unlock this potential, procurement teams must move beyond cost-saving measures and lead efforts to build resilience, improve quality and drive growth.
Collaboration is key. Procurement leaders must work closely with sustainability, technology and R&D teams to harness their expertise.
Together, they can integrate sustainable practices across supply chains while fostering innovation. This approach enables procurement to support the business more holistically, ensuring sustainability aligns with broader operational goals.
The only way to learn from other functions is by connecting with people.
It’s not about telling someone how you’ve done something and expecting them to follow.
It’s about understanding how they do their job, what makes them successful and finding ways to collaborate by integrating my capabilities with theirs.
Building a legacy of collaboration
Sustainable procurement is about more than immediate results—it’s about creating a lasting legacy.
According to WEF, today’s CPOs have a responsibility to foster a culture of collaboration and innovation, ensuring sustainability becomes a natural part of decision-making for future leaders.
Björn advocates for breaking down organisational silos and engaging suppliers as partners in sustainability efforts. Transparency and shared metrics are essential to building trust and aligning goals across the supply chain.
“To make sustainability mainstream, it’s crucial to bring our suppliers along," adds Oliver Bischof, CPO at Siemens Gamesa.
"We need to work closely, not just to innovate but to industrialise these innovations, making sustainable practices the new norm across our supply chain.”
Bold actions, such as joint ventures, can ensure suppliers invest in green technologies that benefit both their businesses and the planet.
This forward-thinking approach ensures that procurement leaders are not just meeting short-term sustainability targets but are also laying the groundwork for systemic, long-term change.
By instilling values prioritising resilience and creativity, they empower future leaders to continue navigating evolving challenges.
A path to systemic change
According to WEF, CPOs are navigating uncharted territory as they expand procurement’s role into organisational leadership for sustainability.
Collaboration across industries and organisations will be essential to success. Sharing best practices, insights and strategies will help procurement leaders collectively advance their sustainability goals.
By focusing on building the business case for sustainability, elevating procurement’s role within corporate strategy and fostering innovative partnerships, CPOs can drive meaningful, systemic change.
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