Sustainable purchasing: an ambitious and collaborative strategy

SPIE's sustainable purchasing policy has been part of the Group's roadmap for several years and is now at the heart of its strategy.  Faced with the challenges of the energy transition, it plays a crucial role in helping us to provide innovative green solutions to our customers and to reduce our own environmental impact. It is also a powerful lever for taking on our social responsibilities and meeting our ethical requirements, which are integrated into our CSR approach. This is why we work hand in hand with our suppliers to progress together towards more sustainable development.

Sustainable purchasing to support our CSR approach 

SPIE's sustainable purchasing policy makes a decisive contribution to the Group's ambitious commitments in terms of environmental impact. By 2025, it plans to source 67% of its purchases from suppliers who have set significant targets for reducing their carbon footprint. This means working upstream with the most carbon-intensive suppliers in our entire base of 73,000 providers—many of whom are small businesses—to understand their CO2 commitments and help them make progress where necessary.  

SPIE also wants to reduce the CO2 emissions generated by its activities by 25% by 2025 (compared with 2019). This is reflected in concrete actions: for example, we have reviewed our vehicle purchasing policy and conducted a European call for tenders with manufacturers and leasers, targeting low-emission cars and utility vehicles.  

In addition to environmental issues, our sustainable purchasing policy also contributes to our social commitments. In particular, we have set up a plan in various countries to purchase from establishments that employ a majority of people with disabilities. These purchases amounted to €1.6 million in 2020.  Our purchasing teams also embody SPIE's ethical requirements: they regularly receive training in business ethics to maintain the highest level of vigilance and to keep their knowledge up to date as legislation evolves.  

Consultation, simplicity and dialogue  

To implement its sustainable purchasing policy, SPIE works in consultation with its suppliers at every stage of the business relationship. When we issue a call for tenders, we first incorporate rigorous CSR criteria into the selection process. We then ensure that our suppliers maintain this initial level of requirements over time by regularly inviting them to participate in assessments.  

New assessment bodies have been approved by our CSR department and commissioned in the various countries where we operate, complementing the independent platform that has been supporting us since 2008. With a tailored questionnaire, they are mainly aimed at our smaller subcontractors, who are not structured to draw up a formal response. They help them gain perspective on CSR issues and on the simple actions they could start to implement.  

Our sustainable purchasing also involves regular discussions with our suppliers. For example, we organise business reviews with our strategic suppliers in each country and at Group level. This is an opportunity for in-depth discussion and the sharing of best practices in order to make progress together on sustainable development issues.  

We have also drafted the "ONE SPIE PROCUREMENT WAY". This document describes how SPIE's Procurement department actively contributes to the energy transition and the digital transformation, alongside our customers and colleagues, by embodying SPIE's values: proximity, performance and responsibility

Some figures

Key figure

€1.6 M

purchases from service providers employing a majority of people with disabilities in 2020

Key figure

47%

Group's purchases that came from suppliers assessed on their CSR performance in 2020

Key figure

67%

SPIE's 2025 target for the proportion of its suppliers that have set ambitious targets for reducing their carbon footprint