Today is Earth Day. So what role do corporations have in protecting our planet? Lots, according to investors, The Securities and Exchange Commission(1), various governments, the UN, and many corporations themselves.
The good news is that amazing solutions exist and many corporations are already stepping up. But time is of the essence. It’s critical to speed up the progress and work together to protect humanity’s well-being and restore the health of our planet.
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)(2) report released in February 2022 issued a dire warning that time is running out for more concerted climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the most catastrophic climate risks - a future in which floods, famine, fires, and other extreme events displace millions. The goal is still to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). And we can still reach that goal, but companies, including Coupa, will need to employ a number of different approaches.
Data and technology are key to any approach to meeting Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, such as those around renewable energy and lowering emissions. As companies assess material environmental impacts based on our business models, we must set goals and demonstrate transparency on progress, leverage partnerships and support local communities, and engage employees. All of this requires collective action across a company’s stakeholders.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is something Coupa takes seriously, especially as our company grows and our offices open back up and travel resumes post-pandemic. We're still learning and have progress to make, but we know that part of delivering value as a service involves delivering data-driven insights and taking action toward climate goals. This Earth Month, we pause and briefly reflect on some of our own journeys to help our customers and Coupa address climate change in both small and big ways.
Sustainable Business Spend Management Solutions: We continue to innovate to support our Coupa Community of customers to achieve their ESG goals as this is where we can have an exponential impact on global supply chains.
Goals and Reporting: We’ve focused on measuring and reporting on our baseline and taking some initial action as a stepping stone for more ambitious approaches.
Partnerships & Community: We’ve partnered with nonprofits and provided financial support for climate initiatives that each play an important part in protecting our planet and supporting local communities.
Employee Engagement: We encourage our employees to donate their time, skills, and money to make an impact in our workplace and in the communities in which they live.
At Coupa, they say that “none of us is as smart as all of us” - and that also applies to achieving climate goals. Looking ahead to 2022, we strive to take bigger action, make a more meaningful impact, continue to invest in resources, and engage customers, partners, suppliers, employees, and nonprofits - so that collectively we are smarter together, sustainable together to tackle climate change.
Download and read our 2022 ESG report, which we’ll release this summer, for further updates on our progress.
Sources:
1 SEC Proposes Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors, SEC, 21 Mar 2022.
2 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, IPCC, 2022.
3 Coupa Inspire - price benchmarking for ocean freight, Scope 3 emissions reporting, Phil Wainewright, Diginomica, 5 Apr 2022.
Related Resources
How to Mitigate ESG Risk in Your Supply Chain
Businesses worldwide seek more transparency in ESG data, according to a new Coupa study. Download Now!
Risk, Resiliency, and Supply Chain Modeling
This paper first examines why existing supply chain management practices do not naturally develop resilient supply chains and why some of the existing supply chain processes are not suitable for addressing such risks and required responses. Download Now!
The 2022 Business Spend Management Benchmark Report
The industry’s only collection of benchmarks is based entirely on hard data from real business spend transactions, with 20 community-powered KPIs for best-in-class performance across procurement, risk, invoicing, expenses, and payments. Download Now!
More Resources from Coupa
Related Article: Saint-Gobain Optimizes Supply Chain Transport to Help Reach Goal of Carbon Neutrality by 2050