Procurement & Supply Chain Live London: Key Sustainability Takeaways for Procurement Teams

Sustainability has become a standing item in procurement conversations. At the recent Procurement & Supply Chain Live conference in London, procurement professionals were actively working with sustainability teams on Scope 3, supplier engagement, and the realities of embedding ESG into procurement workflows.

Here are the gold nuggets and interesting highlights for procurement and sustainability teams alike.

Integration of sustainability due diligence into procurement processes

Tristan Edmondson, Network Representative for the UK and Ireland at amfori, reflected on early mistakes: treating sustainability in isolation, creating new questionnaires, and failing to align with buyers.

The lesson is to integrate sustainability directly into procurement workflows, from RFPs and longlists through to contracting and supplier management. Procurement holds the leverage. Sustainability only works when tied to procurement decisions and spend.

Decarbonising together with your suppliers: insights and best practices

Iris van der Harst, Chief Procurement Officer at EQUANS, described how EQUANS delivers integrated multi-technical solutions focused on energy, digital, and industrial transitions, including low-carbon energy systems, comprehensive facilities management, and sustainable regeneration services for businesses, communities, and the public sector.

Procurement's role is shifting from transactions to collaboration and trust-building. "Climate meetings" with suppliers can uncover opportunities for low-carbon alternatives, but adoption is still hindered by price barriers.

KPIs for procurement teams are evolving: number of climate meetings, supplier certifications, and availability of alternative products are now tracked. Collaboration across buyers is key — large suppliers won't move for one customer, but will for collective pressure.

Sustainability in your supply chains

Martine Hornseth, Sustainability Intelligence Strategist at Sedex, explained that responsible sourcing now includes human rights, health and safety, environment, and integrity.

Risks remain high in agriculture and manufacturing, with forced labour and child labour still prevalent globally. Procurement practices themselves can create risks — for example, short lead times and cost pressure.

Traceability and standardisation are critical for reducing these risks, and procurement plays a direct role in enabling or preventing harm.

Think strategic: how to create a robust and sustainable supply chain culture

Alexander Michael Tschentscher, Head of Supply Chain Excellence at Siemens, noted that supply chain shocks are straining teams, while sustainability adds another layer of complexity.

Regulations and financial drivers are the strongest motivators for change. The takeaway: sustainability resonates most when framed as compliance, risk reduction, or financial value — not just values.

Panel: sustainable supply chains

Paul Doherty (Procurement Director, Heathrow Airport), Tom Arild Trosterud (Vice President Procurement, Hurtigruten), Katie Ferrier (Regional Director for UKI and MEA, Achilles Information Ltd), Eirini Etoimou (Global Advisor in Sustainability, ESG & Supply Chain, Independent), and Tony Watson (Director of Procurement, Accord Healthcare) focused on reducing emissions, improving traceability, and promoting ethical sourcing to create supply chains that are efficient, resilient, and sustainable.

Sustainability is multi-dimensional: cost, emissions, ethics, and resilience. Technology can reduce supplier burden by standardising data collection and improving analysis. Gathering supplier data is one hurdle; turning it into credible, validated, decision-ready insights is the real challenge. Leadership buy-in matters — procurement teams need to link sustainable choices to business value, not just compliance.

The Global Logistics & Supply Chain Forum

John Butcher (Group Procurement Director, Just Eat), Simon Constance (Head of Partnerships, Treefera), and Kevin Betts (Senior Manager, Enable Advisory, Enable) shared practical lessons from the field.

Audits can change lives — on-site audits uncovered withheld wages and unsafe working conditions, with buyers working alongside suppliers to fix issues rather than cut ties.

Emerging tools like AI and satellite data are making it possible to monitor human rights risks at scale where physical audits aren't feasible.

Finance is still the bottleneck. As one CFO put it: "I'm not going green if it puts me in the red." Reframing sustainability as risk mitigation — like paying an "insurance premium" for supply chain resilience — was a powerful takeaway.

Biodiversity and nature are beginning to feature in supply chain conversations, with some industries directly linking soil quality, pollinators, and air quality to profits, though most action is still regulation-driven.

Most inspiring of all was the mindset shift: suppliers changing practices not just because of compliance pressure, but because it improved lives. This cultural change is what makes sustainability stick.

Key takeaways: Scope 3, supplier engagement, and the messy middle

When it comes to Scope 3 emissions, there are understandably more questions than answers. Procurement teams are eager to capture data from suppliers — but there's confusion on where to start.

The real challenge is the long tail of suppliers, often SMBs, who don't have sustainability teams or carbon accounting experience. Then there's the "messy middle" of medium-sized businesses who want to step up but need the right tooling and hands-on support.

Conversations with attendees reinforced these themes: sustainability can't be separated from commercial realities. Finance and compliance pressures remain the biggest triggers for action, and suppliers are more likely to engage when they see practical value and support rather than punitive measures.

Encouragingly, stories of cultural shifts emerged — suppliers improving practices not just for compliance, but because it built trust and improved people's lives. That mindset change, combined with the right systems and partnerships, is what will ultimately move supply chains from measurement to meaningful decarbonisation.

How Sumday helps with sustainable procurement

These learnings align closely with what we're building at Sumday. We know that engaging suppliers — especially the long tail of SMBs — is the hardest part of Scope 3. That's why we don't just send out surveys; we bring suppliers on the journey with education, training, and dedicated support.

It's also why Xero partnered with us — making carbon accounting free for SMBs so they can start without barriers.

For the messy middle of medium-sized businesses, we provide the tooling and workflows to move away from spreadsheets, automate data collection, and ensure audit-ready reporting. And for procurement and sustainability leaders, Sumday offers a scalable, structured way to demonstrate credible effort to boards, regulators, and investors — not just intent.

In short: we help procurement teams move beyond box-ticking, giving them the systems and confidence to turn sustainability from confusion into action.