Nationwide Building Society is to adopt EcoVadis’ sustainability rating system to build a more diverse, ethical and green supply chain.
The Society is to use sustainability scorecards from EcoVadis when evaluating potential new suppliers to ensure they commit to upholding human rights, protecting the environment, and engaging in sustainable procurement.
The EcoVadis platform provides detailed insight into environmental, social and ethical risks across 200 purchasing categories and 160 countries.
Imran Rasul, chief procurement office at Nationwide, says: “As a mutual founded with a social purpose, responsible business is in our DNA and we expect our supply chain to align with our values and to share our commitment to sustainability. We’re proud to partner with EcoVadis as we build the next phase of our procurement strategy, which will enable us to build more sustainable supply chains and be a leading voice on sustainable procurement.”
The Society has already been working with its key suppliers and industry organisations to help realise the ambition of more sustainable supply chains. Alongside EcoVadis, programme partners include carbon consultancy Carbon Intelligence, Social Enterprise UK and anti-slavery charity Unseen.
The Society has set a goal of reaching carbon neutrality through all business operations, supply chains and commuting by 2030.