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What is the Sourcing Pathway?

Raw materials are the foundation of products and businesses. However, the emissions from growing, harvesting, extracting and manufacturing these raw materials represent a major hotspot in the retail industry’s carbon footprint.

Fossil fuels themselves are also found in a wide range of products, from the oil-derived chemicals found in cleaning products, to ubiquitous plastics in synthetic clothing, consumer electronics and white goods.

Falling outside of a retailer's direct operations, product supply chains are complex and dynamic, and are influenced by a range of external factors such as geopolitics, local government policy, and even weather conditions. This makes addressing the climate impacts of raw materials particularly challenging for individual business, and so calls on the use of more collaborative approaches to effectively influence change.

The industry is ideally placed to facilitate the transformation of product supply chains through establishing circular design specifications and procedures for the sustainable sourcing of low-carbon raw materials.

 

Read the pathway guidance for Sourcing
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Sourcing Pathway Guidance

Read the Sourcing pathway guidance for context, insights, case studies, key sector initiatives, actions for the retail industry, and priorities for government and BRC support.
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Sourcing Pathway Milestones Summary

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2025

  • Reporting by retailers on their progress to tackle supply chain deforestation. 
  • Support for regenerative agriculture and greenhouse gas mitigation on farms.
  •  Programmes with suppliers to accelerate their decarbonisation activities.

2030

  • Zero deforestation from major commodities (beef and leather, cocoa, palm oil, timber*, pulp* and paper*, rubber, soy).
  • Sustainable design principles embedded for raw material and product specifications.
  • Supply chain food waste halved.

* sourced from sustainably managed forests

2035

  • Circular feedstocks widely used.
  •  Deep decarbonisation in key raw material production and processing.
  • Carbon dioxide removals projects implemented and delivering verifiable results.

2040

  •  Net zero agricultural production from UK farms, in line with NFU commitment.

Sourcing Pathway Actions Summary

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For Retailers

Short term priorities

  • Develop comprehensive deforestation and conversion-free policies.
  • Be transparent and report on commodity usage and sustainability.
  • Participate in commodity-specific initiatives to drive sector change.
  • Encourage strategic suppliers to adopt climate commitments
    and actions.
  • Work with UK farmer and grower groups on climate mitigation.
  • Adopt circular economy principles to reduce material use and waste.

Longer term transformations

  • Drive demand for zero carbon materials.
  • Identify opportunities to support carbon dioxide removal projects.

For Government

  • Strengthen zero deforestation requirements and commitments.
  • Ensure climate mitigation is core to future agricultural policy.
  • Include land conversion and carbon removals within reporting
    guidelines.

For BRC

  • Work with key UK industry associations to align net zero ambitions.
  • Support the development of guidance on carbon removals and markets.
  • Convene global retail support for low carbon raw materials.

Contact our programme manager

  • Tracey Banks

    Climate Action Programme Manager | BRC

    Tracey leads our work under the Climate Action Roadmap, coordinates signatories’ work under each pathway and engagement with the key partners. 

    Tracey's LinkedIn
    Email Tracey

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