Sustainable Procurement Implementation Framework

This comprehensive framework from the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) is a practical, organised resource that can help guide your sustainability efforts across the procurement cycle. The framework presents concrete actions at each stage of procurement, thereby supporting procurement teams to operationalise the priorities they have selected. ESG topics in the framework are organised hierarchically into three levels (pillar, topic, and subtopic), and the procurement cycle is divided into four key stages: strategy and planning, supplier selection, supplier engagement, and continuous improvement. Within each procurement cycle stage, the framework presents three progress levels (initial action, intermediate progress, and advanced practice), which indicate the complexity or resource intensiveness of the suggested actions. Companies can then turn this knowledge into practical steps through the Action Plan Builder, which allows organisations to select the steps most relevant to their needs and create a tailored roadmap for implementing sustainable procurement initiatives. This resource is intended as a shared resource that brings procurement, sustainability, and finance leaders together to translate sustainability strategy into practical implementation.