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The Together for Sustainability initiative has been launched by chemical companies with the goal of improving sustainability practices in their global supply chains. Photo: Together for Sustainability

Chemical companies drive sustainability through auditing and assessing global supply chains

  • Based on a UN principle, the industry is working to improve sustainability practices in its global supply chains
  • The TfS initiative commits chemical companies, worth a combined global yearly turnover of US$616 billion, to a framework of decision-making
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The Together for Sustainability (TfS) is a global, procurement-driven initiative created by chemical companies with the goal of assessing, auditing and improving sustainability practices within their global supply chains. Based on the UN Global Compact and Responsible Care® principles, TfS is a global organisation with regional representation in Asia (China, Japan and Singapore) and the Americas – and sets the de facto global environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards for chemical supply chains, aiming to improve sustainability performance.

Responsible, collaborative sourcing to support corporate sustainability goals

TfS drives and delivers sustainability through the chemical industry’s supply chains. The need for sustainable businesses has only intensified through current challenges such as climate change and market conditions, as well stakeholder expectations and regulatory developments. As of this month, TfS member companies represent a global turnover of more than €600 billion (US$616 billion) and a global spend of over €400 billion in the chemical industry, spanning sectors including consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, agricultural science, transportation and textiles. Together with its members, TfS offers the chemical industry innovative solutions to make supply chains a key contributor to overall corporate sustainability performance.

Sustainable supply chains have grown into a strategic business differentiator that contributes to supply security and corporate resilience, as well as reputational and regulatory risk management. In the context of procurement, sustainable supply chain management means that sustainability parameters are considered in procurement decisions, on top of traditional parameters such as price, product quality and on-time delivery. As such, TfS aims to foster sustainable and resilient supply chains with fair working conditions, climate change mitigation and environmental protection.

With a membership of 37 companies across the globe covering all segments of the chemical industry, TfS is committed to expanding its reach and impact on the sustainability performance of chemical supply chains around the world.

The power of collaboration has been at the heart of the TfS initiative since its debut 11 years ago. TfS members strongly believe that partnership is the only way forward in making supply chains more sustainable. The synergistic platform allows like-minded companies to share ideas and best practices, pool resources and learn from each other, while also enhancing efficiency and transparency for stakeholders.

Held to a global standard with actionable assessments and audits

TfS offers strong and independent due diligence procedures in the supply chain, and evaluates suppliers against corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles including ESG issues.

Additionally, the collective follows a globally harmonised framework, with robust tools such as TfS assessments and audits measuring CSR/sustainability performance of chemical companies and their suppliers, while Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) enable concrete improvements to sustainability performance. TfS assessments are completed by the sustainability ratings service EcoVadis, while audits are done by select TfS-approved auditors. The results are shared by all TfS members under the principle “an assessment or audit for one is an assessment and audit for all”, which ultimately removes bureaucracy for both TfS members and their suppliers.

TfS member companies have a long-term commitment to finding practical solutions that reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: Together for Sustainability

Upskilling to create sustainable change

As education is another key enabler of sustainable change, TfS has established the TfS Academy to upskill both suppliers and buyers on responsible sourcing. It does this through webinars, instructor-led training, e-learning and learning plans to support TfS members and their suppliers towards continuous improvement, whatever their level of expertise.

The course curriculum is designed with flexibility and adaptability, with bite-sizedcontent enabling learning at any time and at any pace. Currently, more than 250 courses are available in several languages including English, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish – with more courses and languages added regularly. Access is free for all employees of TfS members and selected suppliers. Learners can plan and track progress via a personalised dashboard.

Reducing Scope 3 GHG emissions in the chemical industry

TfS has taken the global lead in the chemical industry by providing effective solutions to address what is probably the biggest challenge of our time: climate change. To ensure TfS companies meet their objectives with regard to the Paris Climate Agreement, TfS is committed to finding a solution, knowing that Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated in its supply chains constitute a major share of the total emissions from chemical companies¹. Monitoring, managing and reducing these emissions requires a harmonised industry-wide approach.

To increase transparency, in September TfS launched the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and Corporate Scope 3 emission reporting guideline for chemical materials, which will enable suppliers and corporations to produce and subsequently share high-quality carbon footprint data, thus creating the basis for managing and reducing emissions down the line.

The detailed new guideline provides specific instructions to calculate chemical emissions from “cradle to gate”. Tailored to meet the unique challenges of the chemical industry, the PCF Guideline is aligned with existing standards through partnering with organisations including Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the World Economic Forum, the Science-Based Targets initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. In addition, the guideline is compliant with ISO and GHG protocol accounting standards. It is applicable across the industry and to the vast majority of chemical products. In future, this will allow consumers and the wider market to directly compare and assess the impact of chemicals on the climate. It also provides chemical material producers and their suppliers with a step-by-step assessment approach that addresses important aspects of the industry.

While created to meet the needs of chemical corporations and their suppliers, the TfS guideline can also be used as a calculation guideline and drop-in solution in any other global industry that uses chemical products. To ensure harmonised, standardised and widespread use, TfS has therefore decided to publish the guideline as open source.

The new guideline will be backed by an IT solution, available in the second half of 2023, that enables corporations and suppliers to share upstream product carbon footprints so that businesses can more easily conduct cross-industry comparisons and compile and manage their emissions across all three scopes.

The Product Carbon Footprint Guideline for the chemical industry is now available for download. Learn more about the TfS Scope 3 GHG emissions programme and the PCF Guideline by clicking here.

¹ Source: analysis of CDP responses in 2020, via Avieco, “Translating Scope 3 emissions for the chemical sector”.

The TfS membership

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