Funded by the DfE, Climate Ambassadors match volunteer climate experts with education settings.
Part of Let’s Go Zero, Climate Action Advisors are independent experts who offer free support for schools, colleges, and nurseries across England.
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Establish sustainability criteria to help guide which suppliers your setting buys from and pick better ones in future.
This could involve setting basic expectations for suppliers, including environmental and social considerations in procurement decisions, or developing more detailed requirements for specific categories of spend.
Where appropriate, build relevant criteria into tender specifications, evaluation processes and supplier selection. Consider assigning a minimum weighting to sustainability and social value alongside or within price and quality, ensuring the weighting reflects the contract and is proportionate to its value and impact.
Criteria might cover suppliers’ commitments to Net Zero, their approach to reducing emissions, responsible sourcing, waste reduction, product durability and repairability, or fair working conditions.
You could also explore using established procurement frameworks, endorsed routes to market or supplier directories that can help identify suitable options. Where useful, develop a preferred supplier list based on clear sustainability, quality and value-for-money criteria.
Why
Purchasing decisions have an influence on the environmental and social impacts of the goods and services your setting uses. Establishing clear criteria helps ensure sustainability is considered alongside cost, quality and suitability, rather than being an afterthought.
It can also help you identify suppliers that are taking meaningful action, encourage improvements across your supply chain and reduce the risk of relying on unsupported sustainability claims.
Over time, consistent criteria can help shift spending towards more sustainable products and services, while reducing unnecessary consumption and making better use of resources.
How
A business manager or those heavily involved in purchasing or managing supplier relationships are best placed to begin tackling this.
You could start by understanding which key suppliers already have sustainability targets or commitments, and then gradually introduce relevant criteria when selecting suppliers or renewing contracts.
Larger settings and trusts may choose to establish group-wide requirements, preferred supplier lists or centralised contracts to improve consistency and purchasing power.
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