Vodafone Group moved to ensure its supply chain contributes to supporting a more sustainable digital society, with plans to evaluate suppliers’ commitments to diversity, inclusion and the environment in future tenders.

From October, Vodafone intends to implement a process in which a supplier’s “purpose” accounts for 20 per cent of its criteria for providing products and services to the company.

The process aims to contribute to Vodafone’s wider goal of halving its environmental impact by 2025.

For new tenders, suppliers will be asked to demonstrate policies and procedures which support diversity in the workplace, including gender, ethnicity, LGBT+, age and disability criteria.

With regards to the environment, Vodafone will evaluate whether prospective suppliers have policies in place to address lowering carbon emissions, renewable energy, plastic reduction, circular economy and product lifecycle.

CFO Margherita Della Valle said Vodafone wanted supply chain partners to be aligned and support “our desire to build a resilient, sustainable and inclusive digital society”.

Vodafone’s announcement follows similar moves by BT, Ericsson and Telia, which all agreed to work with their supply chains to halve emissions before 2030, and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, as part of a new initiative named 1.5°C Supply Chain Leaders.

Nokia this week also signed a United Nations (UN) pledge to promote international cooperation on major issues including climate change. https://www.mobileworldlive.com