Sustainable procurement made simple: The data-driven path to emissions reduction

For businesses with complex supply chains, procurement decisions no longer start and end with cost. The pressure to reduce emissions is growing—driven by net-zero targets, regulatory requirements, and investor expectations. But making sustainability-driven purchasing decisions isn’t easy when the data needed to inform them is incomplete, inconsistent, or simply unavailable.

Every function within a business—procurement, sustainability, and logistics—has a stake in solving this challenge.

Procurement teams must select suppliers that align with sustainability goals—while maintaining cost-efficiency.
Sustainability teams need to track and report emissions data with confidence to meet corporate and regulatory commitments.
Logistics teams need visibility into supplier performance to ensure that freight emissions are being optimised across the supply chain.

Yet in most businesses, these teams operate with disparate data sets, methodologies, and priorities. Instead of collaborating to drive change, teams are stuck chasing fragmented emissions data, struggling to engage suppliers, and managing compliance pressures.

Sustainable procurement isn’t a departmental issue—it’s a business-wide priority.

The reality: Why Scope 3 emissions are so hard to manage

Scope 3 emissions—those generated by suppliers, freight, and outsourced operations—make up the largest portion of a company’s carbon footprint. But despite their significance, they’re the hardest to measure and reduce.

That’s because emissions tracking in most businesses relies on disconnected, manual processes:

Procurement teams request emissions data from suppliers—some respond, some don’t. Those that do provide data use different formats and inconsistent methodologies, making it impossible to compare supplier performance fairly.
Sustainability teams are under pressure to report emissions for compliance. But because supplier data is incomplete or fragmented across spreadsheets, they spend more time chasing numbers than reducing emissions.
Logistics teams want to optimise transport emissions, but without full visibility into freight emissions by supplier, mode, or route, reductions are left to guesswork.
Leadership wants progress—but without reliable data, business decisions remain reactive rather than strategic.

The result? Instead of focusing on emissions reduction, businesses spend too much time trying to piece together the data they need to even get started.

The business impact of poor emissions data

When procurement, sustainability, and logistics teams lack visibility into supplier emissions, businesses face real risks:

Regulatory Compliance Risk: New regulations like CSRD in Europe and SEC climate disclosure in North America require businesses to report Scope 3 emissions. Without auditable data, businesses risk non-compliance.
Financial Risk: Businesses with unverified emissions data face increasing scrutiny from investors and customers, impacting financing and corporate reputation.
Operational Inefficiency: Without clear, comparable emissions data, businesses struggle to identify the most sustainable suppliers, optimise freight, or set meaningful emissions reduction targets.

Sustainable procurement isn’t just a compliance issue—it’s a business risk.

So how can businesses turn emissions reporting from a burden into a strategic advantage?

The solution: Pledge enables sustainable procurement at scale

Pledge eliminates the manual, disconnected processes that slow down procurement, sustainability, and logistics teams—so businesses can track emissions, engage suppliers, and act on data with confidence.

Here’s how it transforms the way businesses manage supply chain emissions:

Procurement teams get standardised supplier data—no more chasing suppliers for incomplete or mismatched figures.
Sustainability teams get audit-ready emissions data—structured for CSRD, SBTi, and SEC climate disclosure reporting.
Logistics teams get granular freight emissions insights—broken down by route, mode, and supplier, enabling smarter transport decisions.
Leadership gets a centralised view of supply chain emissions—enabling businesses to make data-backed sustainability decisions, not just assumptions.

From data collection to emissions reduction

With standardised, accurate emissions data, businesses can finally move from compliance-driven reporting to proactive emissions reduction.

Procurement teams can select suppliers based on both cost AND carbon performance.Sustainability teams can stop firefighting emissions reporting and start focusing on reduction strategies. Logistics teams can reduce freight emissions with full visibility into supply chain carbon impact.

Instead of being stuck in a cycle of data collection and admin, businesses can start turning sustainability commitments into real progress.

Sustainable procurement shouldn’t be this hard. With Pledge, it isn’t.

Sustainability goals, regulations, and stakeholder expectations aren’t slowing down—but manual emissions tracking and disconnected supplier data can no longer keep up.

Pledge helps businesses cut through the complexity by automating emissions tracking and giving procurement, sustainability, and logistics teams the data they need to reduce emissions while keeping supply chains efficient.

Are you ready to take the manual work out of sustainable procurement?

Request a Demo today and make emissions tracking a competitive advantage.