Engage in Advocacy

Review your organisation’s advocacy practices

As a procurer, it is crucial that you ensure your organisation's advocacy and lobbying efforts align with your sustainability objectives. This involves assessing lobbying expenditure, policymaker engagement, trade association memberships, and public stances on sustainability.¹ If you detect a disconnect between these aspects and your value chain-related sustainability goals, consider revising your advocacy strategies or, if necessary, dissociating from advocacy groups that don't align with your sustainable procurement values and practices.²

EXAMPLE: Interface takes a stand for circular economy legislation

In 2017, the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), an industry association for carpet makers, lobbied to repeal California’s circular economy legislation that mandated carpet recycling in the state. Interface, a member of CRI, requested that the association reconsider its lobbying effort.³ When CRI refused, Interface gave up its membership and hired an independent lobbyist to support maintaining the circular economy legislation.⁴

EXAMPLE: Unilever threatens to leave trade associations

Unilever has published a detailed review of 27 trade associations it is a member of and how they help or hinder climate action. The review found 8 associations were misaligned with one or more of its policy positions. The review outlines actions Unilever will take to encourage alignment including threatening to withdraw membership fees.⁵ Unilever has set a precedent for this by withdrawing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce due to misalignment on environmental policy in 2017.

Advocate for sustainable procurement policies

To further enable sustainable procurement, you may need to actively engage policymakers in pursuing legislation that promotes sustainability widely across value chains. This can involve expressing your support for policies addressing key sustainability issues.⁶ Or actively advocating for specific, relevant policies through industry groups or direct engagements with policymakers. For example, consider publishing an open letter to government bodies advocating for ambitious sustainability targets.⁷ Business coalitions can be an effective model for pushing for specific policies that support broader sustainability goals.⁸

EXAMPLE: Trade group established to support renewable energy buyers

The US-based Advanced Energy Buyers Group (AEBG) is a coalition of companies that aim to decarbonise their energy procurement. It operates as a trade association to lobby for policies that support energy system decarbonisation. The group has made a notable strategic decision to focus on promoting “advanced energy” and avoid specific messaging on climate change for political reasons.^{9, 10}

EXAMPLE: Membership association advocates for carbon-free energy future

The Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA) is a multi-stakeholder group focused on procuring clean energy in the US. It has created an innovation team to provide research, analysis, and actionable information to members on the importance of policy in achieving their sustainability goals. Additionally, it engages policymakers and other key stakeholders about the policy needs and priorities of large energy customers.¹¹

EXAMPLE: Business group advocates for circular economy policies

The EU Advocacy Group for A Low-Carbon Circular Economy is a cross-sectoral organisation representing 3,000 SMEs across Europe. It makes circular economy policy recommendations at both the EU and member state levels.¹²