Royal Bank of Scotland – Procurement
Client name: Royal Bank of Scotland
Sector: Banking
Project: Sustainable Sourcing
When: Winter 2010
Summary
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has a long established set of environmental, ethical and social performance targets and policies. These were recently reviewed and the bank decided to aim for more ambitious performance as RBS looked to extend its sustainability approach into its supply base. RBS has a comprehensive sourcing and procurement strategy. The challenge was to embed sustainability principles into the existing operation with minimal disruption.
Client’s objectives
• Leadership – RBS identified an opportunity to become a sustainable procurement leader in its sector and as a public sector partner
• Risk management – gain more focus on avoiding sustainability risks with its suppliers, particularly environmental risks
• Minimal disruption – ensure that sustainability criteria principles and approach are comprehensive , yet well adapted to the reality of RBS procurement
• Cost reduction – meet pressures to reduce cost
Process
Sustainable procurement specialists worked to develop robust sustainability criteria standards that suppliers, products and services would need to meet. Carbon Smart benchmarked these and confirmed that RBS had set a high standard that matched or exceeded the requirements of other similar approaches. With these standards set, key to success was prioritising the efforts where it counts. Our team built a high level profile of GHG emissions from the supply chain, combining carbon intensity with spend. The sustainability team then adapted existing RBS tools and processes to embed sustainability principles and criteria into each of the key procurement steps. Throughout the various phases of the process, our specialist team worked closely with the RBS sustainability team and key staff members in the procurement organisation.
Success
RBS has now implemented a comprehensive sustainable procurement approach. The sustainability criteria that new suppliers, products and service must meet, bear comparison with a good practice sustainable procurement approach. Comprehensive guidance and support is available to the procurement staff and knowledge about sustainability is being spread. RBS is now focused on capturing GHG emissions data from key suppliers with the most carbon intense spend categories and is looking for ways to help them reduce their emissions through collaborative relationships.