Dear SPP Community,
What a year! 2024 was a remarkable year and an extraordinary milestone for the Sustainable Procurement Pledge (SPP). Together, we’ve achieved something profound in our SPP’s journey to 2030—five years of bold ideas, relentless effort with the spirit of this community successfully putting procurement on the sustainability agenda —and preparing to launch the next stage that will take us to 2030 with even greater ambition.
When SPP was founded five years ago by our Co-Founders Thomas Udesen and Bertrand Conquéret, it was a response to a perfect storm of urgency, opportunity, and conviction. Today, as we look ahead, another perfect storm looms on the horizon. This time, it’s not just about raising awareness or proving sustainability’s value. It’s about ensuring sustainability gets embedded in the company’s DNA in a world where competing forces threaten to undermine it. This moment requires us to dig deeper, push harder, and act faster. It requires each of us to step up as leaders in ways we may not have imagined and focus on meaningful change.
But let’s take a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come in the first five years. What started as a dream—a shared vision—has become a global movement that has reshaped how organizations view procurement’s role in driving sustainability. Together we have established a very unique safe, non commercial space to come together and learn from one another.
One of the great privileges of my role as Executive Director is having a vantage point that spans regions, industries, and topics. I hear firsthand how our work resonates across diverse contexts, uniting us in our shared mission: to make sustainable procurement the default. SPP’s call to transform procurement into a force for good is not just aspirational; it’s happening.
You are bringing The Pledge to life! Thank you for working beyond your organizations; for openly sharing and exchanging experiences, learnings; for empowering and equipping each other with new knowledge and tools. Your drive and passion fuel this movement. The SPP Global team is here to support and empower you. On this point, let me also thank my SPP Global team. Your energy, creativity, and resilience inspire me every day. It has also been such a fun year of dreaming big and reaching far.
As we enter the next five years, we do so with a clear purpose: to do more, faster, and with greater impact. Our ‘5 Years of Impact’ roadmap is not just a plan; it’s a call to action. It’s a challenge to harness the momentum we’ve built and accelerate it. To not just respond to the storms ahead but to use them as opportunities. This requires more ambition, more support, more resilience, and above all, more collaboration.
Collaboration has always been at the heart of SPP. In the next five years, we are doubling down! We trust in the power of relationships—with our colleagues, suppliers, peers, partners, and yes, with our competitors. Business can and must be a source of positive change. Let us remember, companies are not faceless entities. They are groups of people, and people have the power to transform the world.
I am optimistic about the future. I see your commitment. I hear your stories. I can assure you that none of you are alone on this journey, you have over 17000 peers in over 140 countries by your side.
So, let’s take this moment as an inspiration for action! Read the pledge, share it with colleagues, leadership, and peers. Join an SPP chapter or Initiative and get ACTIVE AND LOUD. Let’s challenge ourselves to be more honest, to cut through the noise, and to act with conviction. The next five years will test us, but they will also define us.
We’ve come together as a community, now let’s show our power! The SO WHAT is what the next 5 years are all about.
Together, we can ensure that sustainable procurement is our legacy—one that moves forward at speed and scale.
I wish you all a very happy holiday season. And look forward to a bold and energized start in January.
With gratitude and determination,
Mélissa de Roquebrune
Executive Director, Sustainable Procurement Pledge
