Guest post by: Sebastian Leape, CEO of Natcap
Most corporate nature strategies are still siloed from core business decisions.
They appear in sustainability reports, risk registers, and commitments to “nature positive” outcomes. But when companies actually spend money, nature is deprioritized.
For many companies, purchased goods and services represent the majority of their nature related impact and risk. If a company wants to reduce its impact on nature, or manage nature-related risks, procurement is a critical lever.
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) defines nature broadly: land, water, oceans, air, and the ecosystems that sustain life and economic activity. Business impacts and dependencies on nature create real business risks. Water scarcity disrupts supply chains. Soil degradation reduces agricultural productivity. Deforestation drives regulatory and reputational exposure.
Embedding nature into procurement means treating nature risk as a core purchasing criterion rather than an afterthought.
The good news is that companies do not need to start from scratch. Many of the principles already exist in procurement guidance under a different name. The challenge is extending them beyond a few prioritised themes like carbon or water and applying them systematically across all aspects of nature.
Four shifts matter most.
1. Understand nature risks and impacts in your supply chain
The first step is understanding the nature risks and impacts embedded in existing supply chains.
Nature impacts occur across the full lifecycle: resource extraction, manufacturing, transport, use, and disposal. However, the majority of nature impacts and risks occur at extraction of a commodity from a mine or a field, so focusing your analysis there makes strategic sense.
To conduct a commodity-first nature assessment, companies need visibility into where their commodities are being sourced, in what volumes, and how those extraction activities interact with ecosystems. This information allows you to assess their dependencies on natural systems such as pollination, soil fertility, and water availability that underpin long-term production. It also allows you to calculate the risks they may be exposed to, such as those linked to water use, pollution, land conversion, biodiversity protection rules, and exposure to ecosystem decline.
Once nature risk is clearly understood, it can be prioritised more easily alongside other procurement considerations.
2. Buy less before buying better
The first question in sustainable procurement is often the most uncomfortable one: do we need to buy this at all?
Reducing consumption is usually the most effective way to reduce environmental impact. Extending the lifespan of products, sharing resources across teams, and repairing equipment rather than replacing it can significantly reduce pressure on natural resources.
This logic applies across sectors. A manufacturing company can refurbish machinery instead of replacing it. A retailer can extend the lifecycle of store fixtures. A financial services firm can delay technology upgrades where existing systems still perform well. Global Canopy’s Little Blue Book of Nature Business contains a cornucopia of ideas for all sectors.
Procurement teams should therefore treat “do not buy” or other circular alternatives as legitimate outcomes of a purchasing process.
3. Support suppliers to tackle their nature risks
Most large companies rely on long-standing supplier relationships that span years or even decades. These partners often have the technical expertise and operational scale needed to reduce environmental impacts if they are given the right incentives and support. This means asking suppliers three simple questions:
- What nature impacts and risks exist across your operations and supply chain?
- What actions are you already taking to manage them?
- How could those actions be strengthened?
Many suppliers already have sustainability programmes in place. What they often lack is clear expectations from buyers, access to the right data, or the resources needed to implement improvements at scale.
This is where collaboration becomes essential.
Companies can work with suppliers to develop clearer transition plans. They can help identify the most material risks, set measurable targets, and track progress over time. Procurement contracts can then reinforce these expectations by linking supplier performance to environmental outcomes.
Suppliers need incentives to do this work. But it doesn’t always have to be in the form of higher prices. Companies can offer other carrots that don’t increase costs including but not limited to longer contract lengths, more favourable payment terms, public recommendations for marketing materials.
Strategic supplier forums can also play an important role. Bringing together major suppliers to share experience, tools, and best practice helps companies tackle sustainability challenges that cut across entire industries. One good example is the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG). Set up in 2007, it is the largest group of dairy farmers working directly with a retailer. Herds range from 40 to 1,900 cows, and they supply Tesco with fresh milk. In return, Tesco pay guaranteed prices and agree long-term contracts. The long term relationship allows Tesco to help farmers invest in animal health and welfare, carbon reduction, and nature recovery initiatives.
Reducing nature risk across supply chains will not happen through procurement rules alone. It requires long-term partnerships between buyers and suppliers, with incentives for suppliers to engage.
4. Shift demand toward lower-impact suppliers
You will need to shift demand to lower-impact suppliers if existing suppliers are unable to meet your new expectations or you are sourcing a new product altogether.
Doing this requires you to embed data on your most material nature related risks at the supplier level so they can be embedded directly into procurement processes. This will enable comparison across suppliers based on critical nature related risks and dependencies.
For example, procurement teams might prioritise suppliers that operate in regions with lower exposure to deforestation, or those whose operations depend less heavily on water resources that are already under stress. They might also favour suppliers whose production systems protect ecosystem services, such as those that use pheromone pest control rather than traditional pesticides.
Over time, this shifts demand across entire supply chains. Suppliers that manage nature risks more effectively gain a competitive advantage, encouraging others to improve.
Procurement is the front line of the nature transition
The shift to a nature-positive economy will not be delivered through sustainability reporting alone.
It will be delivered through thousands of daily purchasing decisions.
Every tender, supplier contract, and sourcing strategy shapes how natural resources are used across global supply chains. Procurement teams therefore sit at the centre of corporate nature strategy whether they realise it or not.
The companies that recognise this early will gain a strategic advantage. They will understand their exposure to nature-related risks sooner. They will build stronger relationships with suppliers that manage resources responsibly. And they will be better prepared for the wave of disclosure frameworks and regulations now emerging around nature.
Nature strategy becomes real the moment it enters procurement.
