In 2019, Thomas Udesen (CPO, Bayer) and Bertrand Conquéret (CPO, Henkel) founded the Sustainable Pledge (SPP) with the belief that the decision-making power of procurement professionals must be harnessed to accelerate and scale impact in supply chains. Together with passionate volunteers, they led SPP as an international bottom-up and non-profit organization in the first three years – and continue to actively steer the organization’s strategic direction.
From an idea and a drive by Thomas and Bertrand to do more, better, to a grass-roots call to action, to our growing global community of Ambassdors, getting it done!
SPP is truly galvanizing individuals and making important strides, we are proud of the many milestones we have achieved together, with many more to come
Bertrand Conquéret, Co-Founder of SPP and CPO of Henkel, and Thomas Udesen, Co-Founder of SPP and CPO of Bayer, post their idea in a LinkedIn video to see if there are others that want to drive this SPP idea forward with them. They know, it is only with a community that success is possible.
|
A team of volunteers (the K-Team) took up the SPP call and worked to support the growing procurement community convening under the SPP vision. Recognizing themselves as the K-Team they supported and dreamed up what SPP could become for the first 1000 days!
|
It’s official! SPP is registered as a not-for-profit organization in Germany.
|
SPP introduced the first Chapters, hosted by Co-Chairs across regions, industries and topics.
|
The community is growing: 5,671 Ambassadors signed The Pledge.
|
The first World Sustainable Procurement Day (WSPD) was held on the spring solstice, following the sun, this 24-hour event connects procurement professionals around the world for the first time ever to collaborate and share knowledge with each other.
|
The Champions Program is launched – With the aim to Champion the importance of the work and approach of SPP both within their own companies and the global procurement community, 8 leading companies both fund and get active with SPP.
|
SPP’s first employee: Mélissa de Roquebrune joins as Executive Director.
|
It is a year of growth and transition – The first annual strategy is articulated, The SPP Chapters grow to 18 within the structure of Region, topic and industry. The Champion program now has 20 participating companies and together launch THE GUIDE. Employees no. 2 and no.3 join the team Kathrin Decker joined as Deputy Director & Charlotte Horder joins SPP as Community Engagement Director. The community is growing: 12,000 Ambassadors have signed The Pledge.
|
SPP established WSPD as an annual highlight for the procurement community – and beyond galvanized behind the #collaborate2accelerate motto. WSPD is now an annual event.
|
Growth continues with Chapters that have expanded to 18 supported by 50+ volunteers and the community is growing: 15,748 Ambassadors have signed The Pledge. We now convene 28 companies to further the work of championing sustainable procurement with CPO’s meeting regularly to tackle share challenges and topics.
|
The community is activated to “fill a gap” – with the launch of the first SPP Community initiative – Carbon Pricing in Procurement.
|
SPP establishes an Advisory Committee and appoints the first two members Nancy Gillis and Ranajoy Basu.
|
|
|
SPP launches a new website to keep you up to date on all of this and much much more. Things are happening fast and the story continues … Stay tuned!
|
SPP is a not-for-profit organization registered in Germany. As part of our work to keep all the SPP spaces and community safe, open to all and non-commercial, we are funded through voluntary contributions and donations. We strive to stay transparent and open, and we want to celebrate what we are building and achieving together with our community and supporters.
Please take the time to review our Annual Activity Reports and financial statements. Do not hesitate to reach out to the SPP Global team for questions or more information.
Download
We are proud of the SPP community’s achievements and excited that your drive, passion and power is increasingly recognized by changemakers across the globe. This is reflected in the invitations, awards, and accolades we are starting to receive from the global procurement and sustainability community. In 2024, the C.K. Prahalad Award for Business Sustainability Leadership recognized SPP’s strong collaborative efforts and for addressing the impact of procurement on accelerating sustainability.
Copyright © 2024 The Sustainable Procurement Pledge gGmbH
Tax number: 105/5891/3141
