Home
...
External Affairs Climate Action Case Study Library
Telenor’s Scope 3 Supplier Engagement Strategy

Telenor’s Scope 3 Supplier Engagement Strategy

When Telenor developed its near-term science-based targets in 2020 80% of the company’s scope 3 emissions came from its upstream supply chain. Recognising that very few suppliers at the time had set emission reduction targets, Telenor decided to address this majority of scope 3 emissions by engaging with these suppliers. They did this in two steps:

  1. First mobilise all suppliers to set emission reduction targets, since having a target is a prerequisite to systematically reduce emissions. They set a supplier engagement target for Scope 3 stating “68% of its suppliers by spend covering purchased goods and services and capital goods will have science-based targets by 2025”
  2. Then measure suppliers’ actual emission reduction vs their targets between 2025 and 2030.

To give suppliers time to adapt, Telenor immediately engaged with its suppliers through a series of webinars. These were to inform them about Telenor’s targets, the rationale behind them and how these targets would affect suppliers in the years to come. The suppliers were presented with a three-step development plan:

  1. Inform and support – Telenor shared its process and experiences of setting science-based targets and offered onboarding and guidance through bilateral meetings.
  2. Set expectations – Telenor recommended suppliers should consider setting science-based targets themselves to remain well positioned for future business with Telenor.
  3. Set firm requirements – Within a few years, Telenor will start to introduce firm requirements in new contracts for suppliers to have science-based emission targets and to shift spend away from suppliers that did not fulfil this requirement.

In June 2023 Telenor implemented step 3 and set formal requirements for suppliers competing for contracts above a certain value and for suppliers that represent an absolute spend above a given threshold.

The share of spend to suppliers that have science-based targets has increased from 8% in 2019 to 51% by 2023, and Telenor is currently on track to reach its 2025 target of 68%.