The first step to supply chain management is to know who your suppliers are. You can do this by mapping your suppliers by region and industry. IPE recommends that brands map beyond their direct suppliers to include Tier 2 and 3 manufacturers, which often have much higher environmental impacts and GHG emissions.

Brand can search their suppliers in IPE’s Blue Map database, which contains more than 2.69 million corporate violation records and real-time emissions monitoring data for over 18,000 high impact factories by the end of 2022.

For small numbers of suppliers (less than 50), brands can simply type in their supplier’s Chinese name or Unified Social Credit Code into the Blue Map database search box.

Use IPE’s Blue EcoChain tool for automated searches and updates on supplier violations and corrective action in real time via app or email.

Brands should contact the supplier and request or require that they submit a public explanation detailing the cause of the violation and their rectification plans. Many leading brands now require their suppliers to track their own environmental performance using the Blue EcoChain, and more proactively disclose response public explanations once new violations or excessive emissions arise. Non-compliance records may be removed via GCA audits. Click to read more.

To reach high impact suppliers, IPE recommends partnering with direct suppliers to map out raw material and chemical suppliers, as well as wastewater and hazardous waste treatment facilities. Brands can either conduct screening themselves or ask their direct suppliers to screen their own supply chains, thereby extending sustainable management practices upstream and downstream. By extending environmental management, brands protect themselves against potential supply chain disruptions when factories are forced to close due to outstanding pollution issues.

Brands are strongly encouraged to go beyond basic regulatory compliance by monitoring and steadily reducing the energy, water, and chemical use, as well as GHG emissions and pollution discharge of their suppliers.

Brands are encouraged to focus first on the suppliers most heavily contributing to their environmental impact and carbon footprint, and they can do this by requesting that their suppliers to disclose their carbon and pollutant emissions, as well as resource and energy data via IPE’s platform or other public portals.

Brands can proactively disclose their supply chain performance in their own publications, including social media or on IPE website, which will help guide the public to understand the positive impacts a more sustainable way of consumption can have on the environment and climate.

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  Innovation and Leading the Change Nike continues to practice "zero carbon" logistics

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  IKEA's Energy Savings Program Raises Suppliers' Efficiency

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Global Business Accountability Map

Visualize corporate climate and environmental commitments, assist stakeholders in tracking the actual actions taken by companies to fulfill their commitments in the global production and sourcing process, and build a global corporate accountability mechanism.

required a factory to report its annual GHG emissions data.

This factory, through motivation from its stakeholder Target, actively reported its GHG emissions data in 2023.

A factory reported its annual GHG emissions data proactively.

This factory actively communicated with environmental groups and actively reported its GHG emissions data in 2023.

required a factory to report its annual GHG emissions data.

This factory, through motivation from its stakeholder Bestseller, actively reported its GHG emissions data in 2023.

A factory made a disclosure on its environmental information proactively.

This factory actively communicated with environmental groups to disclose its environmental information.

A factory reported its annual resource use and emissions data proactively.

This factory actively communicated with environmental groups and actively reported its pollutant release and transfer registry (PRTR) data.

required a factory to conduct corrective actions for supervision record(s).

This factory, through motivation from its stakeholder Target, actively communicated with environmental groups to implement corrective action...

required a factory to issue an explanation for supervision record(s).

This factory, through motivation from its stakeholder Dell, actively communicated with environmental groups to issue an explanation for its ...

required a factory to conduct corrective actions for supervision record(s).

This factory, through motivation from its stakeholder Brand X, actively communicated with environmental groups to implement corrective actio...

A factory reported its annual GHG emissions data proactively.

This factory actively communicated with environmental groups and actively reported and publicly disclosed its GHG emissions data. in 2023

required a factory to disclose its annual GHG emissions data.

This factory, through motivation from its stakeholder ANTA, actively reported and publicly disclosed its GHG emissions data in 2023.