Greenhouse gas emissions from corporate supply chains are on average 5.5 times higher than the direct emissions attributed to big businesses, according to a new analysis by CDP that underscores the huge potential for blue chips to drive carbon savings through their global supply chains. Researchers at the investor-backed non-profit research organisation scrutinised data from almost 7,000 suppliers to 125 major corporate buyers, including Walmart, BT Group and L’Oréal, which together boast an annual combined procurement spend of $3.6 trillion. It found that companies have huge potential to use their purchasing power to encourage suppliers to switch to greener practices, such as using more renewable power. The report found that suppliers to the large corporates analysed purchased an average of 11 percent of their total electricity from renewable sources. It calculates that increasing suppliers’ share of renewables to an average of 31 percent of their power use would cut a gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions in one year – the equivalent to the 2017 fossil fuel CO2 emissions of Brazil and Mexico combined.

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