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For procurement leaders, Scope 3 is no longer optional. 

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With up to 90% of total emissions coming from Scope 3, addressing these emissions is not only about meeting climate goals, it's about reshaping supplier relationships and driving business resilience.

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Procurement has always been about delivering efficiency and managing risk at scale. Now, the same levers — supplier relationships, contracts, and sourcing power — are also the levers that will determine whether organizations can credibly decarbonize.

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This guide explores why procurement is central to Scope 3, the obstacles leaders face on the path to decarbonizations, and how new tools like act50 are enabling teams to operationalize decarbonization across the supply base.

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Why Procurement Is Central to Scope 3

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Every sourcing decision influences the carbon footprint embedded in your supply chain. As Deloitte notes, Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) are uniquely positioned to influence suppliers, establish sustainable practices, and integrate decarbonization into the supply base.

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By moving beyond cost-only criteria and integrating climate goals into sourcing decisions, procurement can: 

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• Shape supply chains at scale, evaluating suppliers not just on price but on carbon maturity.
• Create standardized expectations, building consistency into contracts, reporting, and compliance.
• Leverage market power, enabling smaller suppliers to access renewable energy and decarbonization pathways they couldn’t pursue alone.

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Scope 3 is fundamentally a procurement issue, and that gives procurement leaders the leverage to make a sizable climate impact. 

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The Challenges Procurement Teams Face

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Even with procurement’s unique position to influence Scope 3, there are real barriers that make progress difficult:

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Data Blind Spots

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Suppliers often lack reliable emissions data. 

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Many companies still rely on industry averages or proxy values instead of primary supplier data, making it difficult to pinpoint where the biggest reduction opportunities lie. 

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Without transparency, procurement teams are sometimes forced to make decisions in the dark, slowing progress and eroding stakeholder trust.

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Supplier Maturity Gaps 

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Large, global suppliers may already track emissions, but many smaller vendors don’t have the tools or expertise. This creates a patchwork of data quality that’s hard to reconcile across the supply chain. 

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For procurement teams, it means navigating everything from highly-detailed carbon disclosures to suppliers who have never calculated their footprint at all.

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Credibility Pressure

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Regulators, investors, and customers are no longer satisfied with vague estimates. 

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CDP and SBTi now expect companies to use auditable, standardized approaches to reporting, and new rules like the EU’s CSRD will only raise the bar further. 

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That puts procurement under pressure to ensure supplier data isn’t just collected, but verifiable, consistent, and aligned with evolving standards.

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Complexity at Scale

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Procurement teams must manage thousands of suppliers across different geographies, each with unique capabilities, regulations, and levels of commitment. 

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What works for a European technology supplier may not be feasible for a small manufacturer in Southeast Asia. 

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The sheer variety of supplier contexts makes it difficult, if not impossible, to roll out a one-size-fits-all decarbonization approach.

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These challenges explain why Scope 3 is often seen as the hardest category of emissions to address, and why procurement teams need new strategies and digital tools to close the gap.

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4 Ways Procurement Can Lead the Charge

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1. Build Partnerships, Not Transactions

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Instead of one-off surveys or compliance checks, procurement teams can cultivate long-term supplier relationships centered on shared climate goals. 

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This collaborative approach not only builds trust but also opens the door to joint problem-solving — from efficiency upgrades to renewable energy sourcing down the line.

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2. Standardize Data Collection

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Procurement can introduce consistent reporting frameworks that make it easier for suppliers to provide accurate information. 

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Standardization reduces friction, improves data quality, and ensures that insights can be compared and acted on across the supply base.

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3. Enable Renewable Procurement

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Suppliers, especially smaller ones, often lack the access or scale to purchase renewable energy directly. 

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Procurement teams can help bridge that gap by facilitating purchasing agreements, offering education on energy attribute certificates (EACs), or connecting suppliers to digital platforms that simplify renewable procurement.

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4. Turn Reporting into Measurable Action

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Data collection is only the first step. Procurement teams can go further by embedding sustainability metrics into supplier scorecards, RFP criteria, and contract terms. 

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This shifts sustainability from a “nice to have” to a requirement for doing business, ensuring climate commitments translate into real reductions.

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act50 in Action

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The challenges of Scope 3 are real, but they’re not insurmountable. 

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With the right tools, procurement teams can shift from struggling with data blind spots to leading measurable climate action. That’s where act50 comes in.

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• Supplier Engagement at Scale: act50 makes it simple to onboard suppliers of every size and maturity level. From global corporations to smaller vendors, everyone can participate without friction.
• Seamless Renewable Procurement: The platform enables auditable, traceable purchases of Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs), giving suppliers access to renewable energy they might not be able to source on their own.
• Real-Time Tracking & Reporting: act50 centralizes emissions data, aligning with global frameworks like SBTi, CDP, and CSRD. Procurement teams get verifiable insights they can act on, and stakeholders can trust.

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With act50, procurement teams and sustainability leaders can turn Scope 3 from their biggest problem into their biggest opportunity.

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Discover how act50 can help your procurement team lead the charge on Scope 3. 

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