Common questions asked by Suppliers
Click on any of the subjects below to explore your possible questions.
Why have I been invited to register on this website?
Your customer operates a policy of ranking suppliers based upon their sustainability.
At the heart of their business is the belief that they can provide great products and services to their customers in a manner that is sustainable from an environmental perspective. Consistent with this vision, they are committed to working with their suppliers, associates, customers and communities to drive positive environmental change across their business operations.
While this may be a challenging aspiration; it is also a tremendous opportunity to reduce waste and cost, improve product and service quality, drive innovation and tap growing consumer interest in sustainable products.
Working with diverse groups of stakeholders, your customers are developing environmentally transparent businesses that will reward suppliers for providing innovative, affordable products and services that are more sustainable for people and the planet. They believe these measures will also help you, their suppliers identify both cost savings and opportunities for new revenue.
It is in this vein that they require all suppliers to provide a carbon inventory to determine the impact their business operations have on the environment. As a supplier to their business, you generate emissions during the production and servicing of their business – they want to work with your to ensure every opportunity to reduce these emissions is taken and they expect you as a supplier to do the same.
Why should I share my carbon emissions?
Your customers have expressed a strategic interest in identifying their suppliers that are demonstrating leadership in the area of sustainability. They want to identify opportunities to innovate, raise awareness in their supply chain about energy consumption and the impact of energy and carbon on the wider environment.
They want to strengthen their relationships with suppliers who share this philosophy and approach to doing business. They are using the Nootrol service to collaborate and share information and exchange sustainability performance data with their supply chain partners.
Is it mandatory?
That depends upon your customers climate change and sustainability policies. However, this is an opportunity for you to show how your company’s practices stand out amongst other suppliers. Leaders in sustainability deserve merit and our customers acknowledge that suppliers that demonstrate leadership in this area will clearly benefit in terms of business in the longer term.
How much does it cost?
That depends on whether your customer has purchased a license for each of their suppliers or not. If they have, you will not be charged. However, many customers do not cover the costs of maintaining a Nootrol account, in which case it will cost you €200 per annum.
When does it need to be completed?
Once you receive an invitation from your customer to register for a Nootrol account, you are expected to action that immediately.
Suppliers are ranked every night based upon the completeness of their carbon inventory for the 12 months up to the end of the most recent quarter and the level of engagement they have with their own supply chain.
Whilst it is understandable that collating energy usage across your business can take some time, you should begin planning to invite your own suppliers to register as soon as possible. Ranking is weighted in favour of those who have the greatest engagement with their own supply chain.
How will this information be used?
Your customers want to better understand the environmental practices of their suppliers. This helps them achieve their own environmental commitments to investors, customers and staff.
Suppliers are regarded as partners in this endeavour, and information provided will be used to rank and reward suppliers based upon the individual sustainability and climate change policies of your customer.
How far back in my supply chain should I be measuring?
A general guideline is to set the bar high, ensure you’ve got over 95% of your supply chain expenditure covered and do not get caught up in details around instances that may only marginally effect the answer. That said, guessing will be considered a violation of good faith and the Nootrol service will highlight suppliers that are deemed to have entered suspicious or inconsistent information.
Am I being evaluated based on the information I supply?
Yes.
How will I be evaluated?
Suppliers will be ranked based upon the completeness of their data and their level of engagement with their own supply chain. Ranking is transparent and you will be provided with resources and guidance in the Nootrol service that can help you improve your ranking.
How often will I be evaluated?
Ranking occurs on a daily basis and suppliers with greater completeness will be ranked higher. Similarly, as your company makes progress we invite you to revise your goals, objectives and initiatives accordingly to get credit for your leadership.
Do these questions encompass the breadth of how sustainability is defined?
No. This is just the first step to collaborate more closely with suppliers on sustainability.
Will anyone be validating my responses? Will it be at my cost?
Carbon inventories will be accepted in good faith, relying on the integrity of the supplier. Violation of that good faith is considered very serious. The Nootrol service has been designed to identify inaccuracies, and if you have concerns that inaccurate information has been provided, please email Nootrol at support@nootrol.com or contact your customer directly.
My company has had environmental programs in place for years. How can we get credit for the work we’ve already done?
If your company has a long history of environmental stewardship and corporate responsibility, you will be well positioned to score well on the ranking because you have already done much of the hard work of understanding the impacts of your business.
Who can I call if I have questions? Will there be a hotline?
Questions regarding use of the Nootrol service or assistance requests should be directed to support@nootrol.com or directly to your contact within your customers business.
Common questions related to sustainability in general
Click on any of the subjects below to explore your possible questions.
Who issues sustainability reports?
More than 3,000 companies worldwide, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500. These companies know that their supply chain has a far greater sustainability impact than their own operations and many such as Walmart and Procter & Gamble now require over 175,000 small and medium sized businesses to publish sustainability data.
Why report on sustainability if you don’t have to?
Increasingly, external stakeholders such as institutional investors expect it. Reporting can also bring operational improvements, strengthen compliance, and enhance your corporate reputation. If you are not doing it presently, your customers will soon begin the process and expect you to follow their lead.
What information should a sustainability report contain?
Reports should contain key performance indicators relevant to the reporter’s industry. Four principles for deciding what to include are materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context, and completeness. Although the terminology may seem daunting, it is not as difficult as most businesses expect.
What governance, systems and processes are needed to report on sustainability?
Governance requires a high-level mandate and clear reporting lines. Also needed: robust systems and processes that help companies collect, store and analyze sustainability information.
Do sustainability reports have to be audited?
Not yet. But they are being more closely monitored than ever before. As this trend continues, users of sustainability information will come to expect that the information has been validated by a reliable third party.
What are the challenges and risks of reporting?
Sustainability reporting presents many challenges, including data consistency, striking a balance between positive and negative information, continually improving performance and keeping reports readable and concise.
How can companies get the most value out of sustainability reporting?
Sustainability reports should be mandatory reading for all employees, and can be a valuable tool for communicating with external audiences as well. Setting targets in the form of KPIs also forces the organization to meet publicly stated goals, which makes reporting an accountability tool.
How relevant is it for Small or Medium sized businesses?
Reporting is sometimes thought of as the province of large organizations, but it’s becoming common among midsize and smaller enterprises as well.
Furthermore, small and medium sized businesses often have substantial supply chains including large organisations that have substantial impacts on the environment.