📅 Held on Thursday 18th June 2026 — 🕠 17:30-19:30— 📍Dryden Enterprise Centre, Nottingham

Transforming Supply Chains: How Universities Are Driving Net Zero Beyond Their Own Walls

Universities are often seen as centres of education and research—but they are also complex organisations with significant environmental footprints. At a recent event, sustainability leaders shared how one UK university is tackling one of the hardest challenges in decarbonisation: emissions across its supply chain.

The discussion highlighted a powerful message—reaching net zero isn’t just about improving your own buildings and operations. It’s about influencing the thousands of organisations you rely on every day.

A Complex Carbon Footprint

Like many large institutions, the university manages a diverse estate, ranging from historic 19th-century buildings to brand-new, energy-efficient facilities. Alongside this is a wide range of activities—from research labs to transport fleets—which all contribute to its environmental impact.

To understand this impact, emissions are measured across three categories:

• Scope 1 & 2 – Direct emissions from buildings, energy use, and owned vehicles
• Scope 3 – Indirect emissions from the wider ecosystem, including procurement and staff commuting

While Scope 1 and 2 emissions are relatively well understood, Scope 3 emissions present a far greater challenge. For this university, over half of its total carbon footprint comes from its supply chain—everything it buys, from laptops and software to highly specialised research equipment.

The Supply Chain Challenge

The scale and diversity of procurement is striking. The university spends over £100 million annually on goods and services, ranging from standard supplies to highly unusual purchases—such as forensic training materials or research equipment.

Each of these purchases carries an embedded carbon cost.

But unlike direct emissions, these are not fully within the university’s control. Suppliers vary widely in size and capability, from global organisations to micro-businesses and sole traders. Many of these smaller suppliers may lack the knowledge, resources, or tools to measure and reduce their emissions.

This raises a critical question:

How can a large organisation meaningfully reduce emissions it doesn’t directly control?

A Shift to Sustainable Procurement

The university’s response has been to embed sustainability directly into its procurement processes. For all major contracts, suppliers must:

• Commit to reducing carbon emissions over the contract lifecycle
• Engage with a dedicated net zero supplier tool (Sustainable Procurement and Net Zero Carbon | Nottingham Trent University)
• Support wider social value goals, such as student employability

Crucially, the emphasis is not on setting rigid emission targets for suppliers, but on ensuring they actively engage and commit to the journey towards net zero. This approach balances ambition with fairness—particularly important when over 50% of suppliers are SMEs.

A Practical Tool for Change

To support suppliers, the university developed a simple, accessible carbon management platform.

The tool enables suppliers to:

• Calculate their carbon footprint using basic inputs (energy use, transport, etc.)
• Build a tailored carbon reduction plan
• Select from a wide range of practical actions, such as:
• Switching to LED lighting
• Reducing waste
• Improving staff engagement
• Transitioning vehicle fleets

Importantly, the tool is free and designed to be flexible. Whether a global supplier or a sole trader, each organisation can create a plan proportionate to its size and capability.

Collaboration at Scale

Rather than acting alone, the university took a collaborative approach.

• Initially piloted with a handful of institutions
• Expanded to over 30 universities
• Now used by over 1,200 suppliers

Adopted by other organisations, including local authorities and research bodies

This collective approach has proven vital. Suppliers are far more likely to engage when multiple clients request the same action, creating a consistent and scalable expectation across the sector.

Creating a Ripple Effect

The real impact lies in what happens next.

When a supplier improves its sustainability performance:

1. Its own carbon footprint reduces
2. The university’s Scope 3 emissions decrease
3. The supplier begins engaging its own supply chain

This creates a ripple effect across multiple tiers of the economy, extending far beyond the original organisation. In essence, universities can act as catalysts for wider systemic change—supporting SMEs, influencing markets, and accelerating progress towards net zero across entire sectors.

Better Data, Better Decisions

A key benefit of this approach is improved data.

Previously, emissions from procurement were estimated using simplified “spend-based” methods. Now, using supplier data:

• Carbon impacts are more accurately calculated
• Procurement decisions can consider environmental performance
• Opportunities for further reduction can be identified

For example, insights from supplier data have already informed decisions such as:

• Exploring refurbished IT equipment
• Reducing delivery frequency and packaging
• Consolidating products to minimise waste

Challenges Ahead

Despite strong progress, challenges remain:

• Data quality and consistency across suppliers
• Risk of greenwashing or over-reliance on offsets
• Balancing sustainability with cost pressures
• Ensuring fair access for smaller businesses

These are not unique to one organisation—they reflect wider challenges across industry. However, the event highlighted a clear shift: sustainability is increasingly becoming a core consideration in procurement, not an optional extra.

A Call to Action

The key takeaway is simple but powerful:

Supply chains are the next frontier of decarbonisation.

Organisations can no longer focus solely on their own operations. Real impact lies in working collaboratively—across sectors, suppliers, and stakeholders—to drive change at scale.

For universities, public sector bodies, and private organisations alike, this offers a significant opportunity:

• Use purchasing power to set expectations
• Support suppliers with practical tools and guidance
• Collaborate to create consistent industry-wide approaches

Because when change starts at the top and flows through supply chains, the results can be transformational.