The Scope 3 Podcast

Are we making supplier engagement harder than it needs to be?

Supplier engagement remains one of the biggest challenges in Scope 3 decarbonisation. But what happens when the suppliers being asked to measure emissions, set targets and report progress are operating with tiny teams, limited budgets and competing customer demands?

In Episode 59, Ollie, Tom and Dexter are joined by two guests offering different perspectives on how to make supplier engagement work.

Caitlyn Lewis, co-founder of Collabria, explains why so many supplier engagement programmes struggle to turn good intentions into meaningful action. Drawing on her experience working with procurement teams, she explores the changing role of supplier relationships, the importance of commercial conversations and how AI could help procurement professionals spend less time on administration and more time building genuine partnerships.

Mike Rockwell, Sustainability Program Manager at Hamilton, has experienced supplier engagement from both sides. Having previously advised large companies on their programmes, he's now a sustainability team of one, building Hamilton's programme from scratch. He shares what customers often misunderstand about their suppliers, why simpler requests and better support matter, and how he's using AI to achieve more with limited resources.

Elsewhere, the team tackles the controversy surrounding the GHG Protocol, following allegations of undue corporate influence over proposed changes to emissions accounting rules. Is corporate involvement undermining the integrity of the standards, or do we need more structured engagement with practitioners, better funding and faster decision-making? Here’s the link to the original FT story, plus reaction on LinkedIn.

In this episode:

• Why supplier engagement programmes so often fail to deliver meaningful change

• What suppliers really need from their customers

• The growing tension between ambitious climate targets and commercial realities

• How AI can help small sustainability teams punch above their weight

• What the GHG Protocol controversy means for corporate climate action

• Why trust, relationships and practical collaboration still matter more than ever

Plus, the latest from the Scope 3 Peer Group, including its Value Exchange Summit, upcoming activities and plans to recognise the Top 100 Peers of 2026.

Enjoy.

Are businesses asking the wrong things of their suppliers when it comes to decarbonisation?

With almost 1,000 suppliers signed up for the Scope 3 Value Exchange Summit, Ollie has been digging into what they really want from their customers. And the findings are revealing. Suppliers aren’t simply asking buyers to foot the bill for decarbonisation. They’re looking for clearer expectations, shared investment and, crucially, a commercial reason to act.

Ollie, Tom and Dexter explore what the findings mean for procurement, alongside some encouraging signals from the investment community, developments in climate reporting and the challenge of turning carbon accounting into action.

We’re also joined by three returning guests. Nicole Anderson Brodin, Sustainable Procurement Manager at Essity, explains how carbon is becoming part of everyday purchasing decisions, from supplier scorecards and contracts to carbon pricing in tenders. She also reveals how Essity is helping suppliers calculate product carbon footprints, and why more honest conversations about commercial needs could unlock faster progress.

Then, Devin Carsdale from Bristol Myers Squibb and Bridget Ferrari, co-lead of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative’s decarbonisation workstream, explain how the pharmaceutical industry is simplifying supplier engagement and collaborating to unlock investment in renewable energy, greener solvents, packaging and other low-carbon innovations.

Plus, a look ahead to the Scope 3 Value Exchange Summit (20–22 October) and the Scope 3 Peer Group’s London Strategy Days in February.

The Scope 3 Podcast returns with the second of our Climate Week NYC specials – this time with a chance for Ollie, Tom and Dexter to work out what, exactly, they learned from a frantic few days in New York.

At the centre of this episode is procurement – and the increasingly important role it has to play in turning Scope 3 ambitions into actual commercial decisions.

Ollie sits down with Erik Roberts, Chief Purchasing Officer at Procter & Gamble, to talk about why Scope 3 has become part of the modern CPO mandate, why sustainability needs to work alongside cost, performance, risk and resilience, and why innovators need to move beyond the dreaded “green premium”. Erik also explains how investments originally made with sustainability in mind can suddenly become extremely valuable when supply chains are disrupted.

Back in the studio – sort of – the conversation turns to what Climate Week actually felt like this year. Dexter describes a week dominated by AI and a slightly “befuddling” tidal wave of new information, tools and possibilities, while Ollie reflects on what the Peer Group is learning from hundreds of suppliers ahead of the Value Exchange Summit. One message comes through particularly strongly: suppliers are being asked to decarbonise, but many still believe purchasing decisions ultimately come back to price.

Tom also catches up with Martin Chilcott, whose new book Get Sh*t Done: Real Lessons from the Superheroes Decarbonizing Global Supply Chains launched during Climate Week. Martin explains why measuring and reporting carbon isn't enough, why procurement cannot solve Scope 3 alone, and why carbon ultimately needs to become part of the commercial transaction between buyer and supplier.

Plus: supplier surveys, specifications, AI, resilience, internal governance, Climate Week FOMO and the emerging realisation that perhaps, before we can get sh*t done, we need to get our sh*t together.

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Ollie, Tom and Dexter are in New York for what promises to be a hugely important Climate Week.

Join us for chatter, analysis and insight from what we've seen and heard so far, including the goings on at the PACT Summit where we catch up with Strategy Director, Aneta Wierzynska; Grant Sprick, VP of Environment and Climate, Ahold Delhaise; and Andrea Brown , CSO from LYB.

Elsewhere, Tom caught up with the brilliant Sam Stark, CEO and founder of Green Project Technologies, a company that has been making big moves this year.

As Ollie mentions towards the end of the episode, don't forget to get involved in the Peer Group's efforts to accelerate cost-effective, lower-carbon sourcing across key materials. We want to know what you need. Which lower-carbon materials are you trying to get hold of? Which initiatives or buyer groups have you already tried? Are they actually helping? And where are the biggest gaps? We’ve put together a very ⁠short survey to map demand across the Peer Group and understand where there might be opportunities to act together.

What does it take to decarbonise an industry where emissions are embedded in everything from complex global supply chains to the equipment, chemicals and consumables used every day in the lab?

In this episode of The Scope 3 Podcast, Ollie talks to Jen Valsler from AstraZeneca about the realities of driving emissions reductions through a huge and complex pharmaceutical value chain, including the role suppliers have to play and what it takes to turn corporate ambition into practical action.

Then, Tom is joined by James Connelly, CEO of My Green Lab to widen the lens. They explore why laboratories present such an interesting decarbonisation challenge, how purchasing decisions can begin to shift an entire market, and whether greater collaboration between scientists, procurement teams, suppliers and manufacturers can create change at a scale no single company could achieve alone.

Two conversations from different parts of the life sciences ecosystem, connected by one big question: how do you move from measuring the footprint to actually changing the system that creates it?

Recorded live from London Climate Action Week, Ollie and Tom reflect on one of the busiest and most important weeks in the Scope 3 calendar, unpacking the conversations, frustrations and practical ideas that are shaping the next phase of supply chain decarbonisation.

The episode explores why so many practitioners are asking whether they are becoming "busy fools", how evolving guidance from the SBTi and GHG Protocol is influencing corporate decision-making, why procurement is taking a more prominent role in Scope 3, and what Ollie believes needs to happen to turn ambition into action.

Tom also catches up with Luke Abbott from Equipoise, to discuss the rapid growth of the Scope 3 Procurement Training, which was co-created with more than 250 members of the Scope 3 Peer Group. Luke explains why procurement teams needed a dedicated learning pathway, shares early results showing a 39% increase in learner confidence, reveals how leading global companies are embedding the training across their procurement functions, and previews new programmes for suppliers, executives and nature and biodiversity.

Back in London, Tom speaks with Cerian Atwell, Sustainability Lead at Marks & Spencer, about what it really takes to engage suppliers at scale. Cerian explains how M&S identifies its highest-impact suppliers, why sustained engagement matters more than one-off initiatives, how collaboration with other brands is accelerating progress, and why the next challenge is helping suppliers move beyond quick wins towards deeper decarbonisation investments.

The episode also features Liam Salter, CEO of Reset Carbon, who shares lessons from more than 16 years working with manufacturers across Asia. Liam explains why supplier decarbonisation only succeeds when there is a compelling commercial case, how renewable energy opportunities are rapidly expanding across Asian markets, and why carbon programmes can become the foundation for wider improvements in water, waste and environmental performance.

Along the way, Ollie and Tom discuss:

• Why business cases matter far more than inspirational case studies.
• The growing importance of coordinated customer signals from procurement teams.
• The rise of practical collaboration around industrial heat, renewable energy and supplier decarbonisation.
• Why supplier engagement must be tailored country by country across Asia rather than treated as one region.
• What's coming next for the Scope 3 Peer Group, including New York Climate Week, the October Supplier Decarbonisation Summit and a major push to help more organisations move from planning to implementation.

While 160 Scope 3 practitioners are gathered in Chicago this week for the Scope 3 Peer Group Strategy Days, the rest of the community can still get a front-row seat.

This latest episode of The Scope 3 Podcast is effectively a Chicago special.

Not only has Ollie been busy hosting one of the biggest gatherings of Scope 3 practitioners anywhere in the world, he’s also been roaming around the Windy City with a microphone, capturing conversations with some of the people shaping what happens next in supply chain decarbonisation.

On this episode you'll hear from:

• Simon Geale (Proxima)
• Emma Friedl (3Degrees)
• Sam Schwartz (Center for Green Market Activation)
• Zach Bathen (Watershed)
• Dr. Sreedevi Rajagopalan (MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab)
• James Lee (Regeneron)
• Kate Joyce (Veolia)

And among the topics discussed:

✅ What procurement leaders are really prioritising right now – and why sustainability has slipped behind volatility, resilience and cost pressure.

✅ The practical reality of supplier engagement: carrots, sticks, incentives, segmentation and what actually works.

✅ The growing debate around market mechanisms, book-and-claim systems, renewable energy procurement and whether companies can invest with confidence under the evolving SBTi framework.

✅ Why some practitioners believe spend-based hotspot analysis is sending companies to the wrong suppliers – and what they should be looking at instead.

✅ The challenge of moving from emissions data to actionable supplier strategies.

✅ What companies are asking about renewable fuels, biogenic emissions and the implications of the latest standards developments.

✅ Why the metals value chain remains one of the biggest decarbonisation opportunities hiding in plain sight.

A big thank you to the team at Watershed for supporting this episode and helping make these conversations possible.

🎧 Remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This week, Ollie, Tom and Dexter unpack a series of major developments across the Scope 3 landscape, from McDonald’s admission that it is unlikely to achieve its 2030 value-chain emissions target, to Electrolux surpassing its science-based targets years ahead of schedule.

The conversation also explores AstraZeneca’s Clean Heat programme, for which Ollie was recently interviewed by Forbes, and the growing momentum behind collaborative approaches to industrial heat decarbonisation. They are updates on supplier heat programmes, renewable energy initiatives and new efforts to use collective customer demand to accelerate decarbonisation across major packaging suppliers.

The team also tackles a growing issue that many practitioners are quietly wrestling with: data quality. Dexter argues that improved data inevitably leads to re-baselining, and that companies need greater confidence from standard setters that revising historical emissions data should be viewed as progress rather than failure.

The first guest this week is Chris Low, Head of Sustainability Procurement and Packaging at Haleon and the recently crowned Scope 3 Peer of the Year.

Chris provides an update on one of the most ambitious supplier decarbonisation programmes currently underway. He explains how Haleon’s REV initiative is designed to source renewable electricity across its wider value chain, reaching beyond direct suppliers into tier two, three and four suppliers. By combining renewable energy procurement, tax credit mechanisms and market-based instruments, Haleon hopes to reduce supply chain emissions while creating a positive business case rather than additional cost.

Chris also chats through the challenge of maintaining supplier engagement at scale, the role of internal carbon pricing, and a new approach that shifts supplier engagement from ‘asks’ to ‘deals’. Rather than simply requesting emissions reductions, Haleon is exploring commercial arrangements where future business growth, contract commitments and demand signals are directly linked to supplier decarbonisation actions.

In the second half of the show, Tom speaks with Professor Christian Heinrich, Co-Founder of carbmee.

Unlike many climate technology founders, Christian’s background is in procurement, supply chain planning and enterprise software rather than sustainability. He explains why that perspective led carbmee to focus on operational integration rather than standalone carbon dashboards.

The discussion examines why supplier engagement remains one of the biggest bottlenecks in Scope 3 programmes, why questionnaire-led approaches often fail to scale, and why procurement teams need better visibility into supplier emissions before meaningful conversations can take place.

Christian also shares his views on primary data, activity-based accounting and the challenges of creating genuinely useful product carbon footprints. He argues that many organisations underestimate the complexity of supplier engagement and that accurate activity-based emissions data is becoming increasingly important not only for climate reporting but also for regulations such as CBAM, EUDR and packaging legislation.

References mentioned during the episode include:

• McDonald’s announcement that it is unlikely to achieve its 2030 Scope 3 emissions target.
• Electrolux surpassing its 2030 science-based climate targets ahead of schedule.
• Forbes coverage of AstraZeneca's Clean Heat programme.
• Haleon’s Renewable Energy in the Value Chain (REV) approach.
• The Scope 3 Peer Group Tools Intelligence Report.
• WRAP's updated Scope 3 greenhouse gas reporting guidance, discussed on Footprint’s Small Print podcast featuring Hamish Forbes.

🎧It’s another packed episode. Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This time, Ollie, Tom and Dexter get into the messy, fast-moving world of Scope 3 tools – and what the new Scope 3 Tools Intelligence Report reveals about buyers, vendors and the reality behind the dashboards.

Nick Donoghue, the brains behind Scope3Navigator.com and the analysis for the report, joins the show to unpack what Scope 3 practitioners are really saying: why big RFPs often miss the point, why most large businesses are still using multiple tools, why data still does not flow properly between systems, and why price is only one part of the real cost of implementation.

The group also digs into AI, chatbots replacing dashboards, consolidation, product-level data, and why sustainability software cannot be sold like ordinary SaaS.

Then, Ollie sits down with Laura Santiago Subero and Aurélie Fidalgo from Suntory to talk about Scope 3 from inside a major global drinks business. It’s a practical conversation about procurement, supplier maturity, internal collaboration and how Suntory is building supplier engagement across ingredients, glass, packaging, logistics, regenerative agriculture and more. The pair explain how they are building bridges between sustainability and procurement, why they use “maturity mountain” models with suppliers, and why Scope 3 tools need to be simple, standardised and scalable if they are going to work in the real world.

Finally, Tom speaks to Michael Fernandez-Ferri, co-founder of VELA, about wind-powered freight and why the future of shipping might borrow more from ocean racing than container shipping. Michael explains why VELA is building a modern sailing cargo trimaran, how it aims to sit between air freight and sea freight, why pharma, luxury, cosmetics, wine and spirits are early target markets, and how wind, solar, hydrogen and green refrigerated holds could help move high-value goods across the Atlantic with far lower emissions.

🎧 It’s another packed episode. Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This episode features two very different conversations, but both land on the same core question: how do companies actually make Scope 3 decisions in the real world when cost, speed, suppliers, engineering, data quality, and commercial pressure all collide?

First up, Ollie speaks with Amanda Martins, Head of Sustainability at Williams F1 Racing. Amanda brings a procurement and supply chain mindset into sustainability – and it completely changes the conversation. Instead of focusing purely on frameworks and reporting, she talks about supplier maturity, operational decision-making, multidisciplinary teams, and why sustainability teams need to add value rather than create noise.

The discussion explores:

• What Scope 3 looks like inside a Formula 1 team

• Why procurement professionals are often best placed to drive decarbonisation

• The challenge of forecasting emissions in a hyper-fast-moving environment

• Supplier engagement in highly competitive and IP-sensitive industries

• Building teams capable of turning sustainability ambition into execution

• Why ‘getting sh*t done’ matters more than sustainability theatre

Then, Tom sits down with Spencer Brennan, founder and CEO of Neutreeno, a Cambridge spinout using engineering intelligence to help companies reduce emissions and costs simultaneously. Spencer explains why industrial decarbonisation is being held back by a focus on reporting over action, and introduces the idea of “action-grade data”: information that is credible, scalable, and good enough to make real operational decisions quickly.

That conversation covers:

• Why Scope 3 has become stuck as a reporting exercise

• The tension between speed and accuracy in emissions data

• The risks and limitations of AI-generated emissions modelling

• How manufacturers can reduce emissions through material and energy efficiency

• Why supplier engagement still remains one of the biggest blockers

• The commercial case for decarbonisation through performance, resilience, and cost reduction

Elsewhere in the episode:

• Roee Goldberg from Atmospheric AI joins the show to discuss the Strait of Hormuz crisis and what it reveals about supply chain transparency, petrochemical pricing, resilience, and procurement intelligence. He has produced a fascinating paper on the subject, which is available here

• Ollie, Tom, and Dexter unpack the proposed GHG Protocol changes – and what a 95% Scope 3 reporting requirement could mean in practice

• The team also discuss the launch of the latest Scope 3 Tools Intelligence report, including the explosion of platforms, AI-driven risk tools, and the growing challenge of navigating the market

If you work in procurement, sustainability, supply chain, carbon accounting, supplier engagement, or industrial decarbonisation – this episode is jam-packed with practical insight, honest discussion, and plenty of opinions.

🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.