Supplier Survey

Issuing Supplier Surveys enables enterprises to: 

1. Increase the accuracy of their inventory using supplier-specific data rather than standardised emissions factors

2. Track emissions across individual suppliers, and factor sustainability into the procurement process by compare the emissions efficiency of suppliers

3. Identify and prioritise emissions reduction initiatives, based on supplier-specific carbon abatement costs

4. Engage their suppliers in emissions reduction, and make data-driven investments in decarbonisation across their supply chains

For suppliers, completing a Supplier Survey provides: 

- An overview of their existing GHG inventory in the Altruistiq app, broken down both by GHG Scopes and Altruistiq’s own business activity-based view

- Their own estimated GHG inventory in the Altruistiq app, if they did not previously have one

- Access to intro-level app functionality for tracking emissions progress

We gather a company’s figures for its completed GHG inventories and map it to our own Activity-based GHG Inventory Methodology. This methodology is in line with the GHG Protocol, but also allocates emissions in a more intuitive business-friendly way, and enables more straightforward data collection in future.

The survey asks the company for their Scope 1, 2, & 3 (if available) emissions from their most recent GHG inventory, with the opportunity to provide a more detailed breakdown of figures for each category within the Scopes, if these are available. The more detail a company can provide on its existing inventory, the better we can allocate those emissions to our Activity-based platform and the more useful the resultant view will be for the supplier themselves.

If detailed category figures within each Scope are unknown, then the supplier is only expected to provide the total emissions figures for each of Scope 1, 2 & 3, as these overall emissions figures are sufficient for the enterprise issuing the survey.

If previous GHG inventory data is unavailable, the survey uses a Rapid Impact Estimator (RIE) to estimate a company’s GHG emissions, based on a few headline business parameters. The methodology is based on an academic LCA methodology called Environmentally Extended Input Output (EEIO) analysis that focuses on spend-level data. It allocates emissions based on a company’s costs and existing benchmarks in the wider industry the company operates in. 

We only recommend using this estimation approach in the event that no previous GHG inventory data is available, as using actual historical emissions data for the specific company is generally more accurate.

Suppliers are asked to:

1. Fill in revenue and cost data for the most recent year available (calendar or financial).

2. Select all of the product & service categories the business operates in.

NB: Companies can sometimes struggle to find the relevant product or service for their business - here is a general outline of what’s applicable. If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to academy@altruistiq.com. 

3. Assign a percentage of the business’s operating costs to each of the selected product & service categories. 

4. List the facilities and their locations (at country level) where the business operates and each of the selected products & services are created/delivered (e.g. farms, factories, warehouses, offices). *This information is required as the EEIO analysis uses country-level emissions factors, so the emissions that are apportioned to each product or service category will depend on where these are based.*

This survey helps your customers collect supplier-specific emissions data for their GHG inventories and reduction initiatives. Beyond supporting your relationship with your customer by providing this emissions data, you, as a supplier, can use the survey as a way to develop or visualise your own estimated GHG inventory. 

NB: If you don’t have a previous GHG inventory, filling in this survey is not a substitute for a fully completed GHG inventory. This is strictly an estimation, so the outputs cannot be used for your own regulatory reporting and should not be used for key decision-making as we recognise that estimations can be off. 

For companies that do not yet have a GHG inventory, providing extra levels of detail improves the accuracy of our estimation of your GHG inventory. 

For companies that already have a GHG inventory, extra detail allows us to better allocate to our activity-based methodology, helping both you and your customers with data accuracy in the Altruistiq app.

That’s fine! The more detail the better to provide an estimation, however, the top level figures on your Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions (if you have a GHG inventory) or your spend data (if you don’t have a previous inventory) are what’s most important for us to develop the supplier-specific emission factor for your customers. 

Companies can sometimes struggle to find the relevant product or service for their business - here is a general outline of what’s applicable. If further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to academy@altruistiq.com.