Supply chain initiatives

Our ability to have impact on sustainable practices among our suppliers, both first tier and further down our supply chain, is limited if we act alone.

We believe that partnerships and collaborations offer the greatest opportunities for positive impact and therefore we take part in various supply chain initiatives.

World Nuclear Association

Vattenfall has long been an active member of the World Nuclear Association, participating for example in the Uranium Stewardship Programme, which defined ten principles for managing radiation, health and safety and environmental issues. The resulting joint policy document, 'Sustaining Global Best Practices in Uranium Mining and Processing', aims to maintain best practices and promote them to new participants in the uranium supply chain. An internationally standardised audit checklist for joint audits of mines supports the policy document.

Vattenfall is currently a member of the newly established World Nuclear Association ESG Working Group.

RECOSI – Responsible Commodities Sourcing Initiative

Vattenfall is a founding member of the Responsible Commodities Sourcing Initiative (RECOSI), a non-profit organisation set up by large utilities who recognise that by working together they can have a much greater impact on improving the sustainability performance of their commodities supply chains. RECOSI aims to drive continuous improvement in responsible commodity sourcing, working with companies to improve how they produce energy commodities and align with international best practice. RECOSI guides and supports its members in their due diligence monitoring of supply chains and supports producers in enhancing their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

The organisation’s work initially focused on coal, through the Bettercoal Programme, and it has now expanded to cover natural gas. Building on over a decade of experience in undertaking ESG assessments of mine sites, operating an international standard and assurance framework for coal, and involving Equitable Origin as its technical partner, RECOSI is currently working collaboratively with stakeholders to establish its Gas programme.

RECOSI’s Bettercoal programme

In 2018, two Country Working Groups for Colombia and Russia were set up to facilitate closer monitoring by buyers of the implementation of Continuous Improvement plans by suppliers and to establish a platform for capacity building. In 2022, Bettercoal suspended its work with Russian coal producers, and – correspondingly – the activities of the Russia Country Working Group, but launched a South Africa Working group due to increasing volumes of South African coal coming into the European market.

Vattenfall stays involved in Bettercoal main forums, though since October 2021 we have been using an external service provider for coal sourcing due to shrinking coal volumes.

The Wind Europe Initiative

The Wind Europe Sustainability Taskforce members have identified supply chain sustainability as a very relevant topic for the industry in order to reduce costs, anticipate regulatory changes, manage risks and increase collaboration while also contributing to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The aim of the project is to develop and adopt a wind industry approach for assessing, controlling and monitoring the supply chain. Several tasks have been identified that have led to the development of:

• Wind industry guiding principles on supply chain sustainability and reference framework
• A potential joint compliance process that could include developments such as the design of a common self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ);
• Joint capacity building activities and events.

Developing a common approach would empower the companies that adhere to this initiative to apply a powerful supply chain tool to control and impact sustainability related topics.

Solar Power Europe and Solar Stewardship Initiative

Establishing sustainable and robust supply chains is crucial to enable a just transition to clean energy, according to Solar Power Europe. We fully agree and support Solar Power Europe in its sustainability work by being active members in various workstreams.

We are also a member of the Solar Stewardship Initiative and a supporter of its principles.

International RBC agreement for the renewable energy sector

The International Responsible Business Conduct Agreement for the Renewable Energy Sector is a broad coalition of solar and wind energy companies, industry associations, the Dutch government, knowledge institutions, NGOs and trade unions committed to making international value chains more sustainable. Vattenfall took part in the very first meeting some years ago and kept pushing to get the covenant agreed upon by relevant participants.

We believe collaboration is fundamental to create transparency, build leverage and have impact beyond legal compliance. Working together with peers and other industry partners is key, but what makes the covenant even more valuable is the multistakeholder approach at its heart. It will accelerate our understanding and impact; one workgroup will focus in due diligence practices and make these aligned with OECD, another work group is focusing on collective actions in order to jointly push the bar on specific issues.

First Movers Coalition

Vattenfall is a founding member of First Movers Coalition (FMC), established in 2021. FMC was launched by the US State Department and the World Economic Forum, and has grown to over 80 corporate members including global brands such as Boeing, Deloitte, Vestas and Ford Motors.

The objective of FMC is to commercialise breakthrough technologies within hard-to-abate sectors, which will be required to reach net-zero worldwide by 2050. Corporate members commit to procuring breakthrough materials and transport solutions at premium prices. This collective purchasing power sends a powerful market demand signal to suppliers and manufacturers to develop technology that reaches commercialisation in time.

Vattenfall has four FMC commitments: to procure 10 percent near-zero steel and 10 percent near-zero concrete/cement of our total volumes, to ensure that 5 percent of our business travels are covered by sustainable aviation fuels, and that our trucking service providers procure zero-emission trucks by 2030.