Case study: How DBS promotes sustainable procurement
DBS is a leading financial services group headquartered in Singapore and operating across 18 markets globally. As a prominent financial services group in Asia with a growing global presence, DBS purchases a diverse range of products and services, including professional services, software, real estate and corporate services. It is, thus, imperative that DBS’s procurement decision-making also considers environmental and social matters alongside financial factors.
This case study is based on the 2020 Sustainability Report by DBS, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Sustainable procurement practices help DBS to reduce waste, contribute to decent working conditions and enable economic growth. Tweet This! In order to promote sustainable procurement DBS took action to:
- apply the Sustainable Sourcing Principles
- identify supply chain high-risk categories
- organise a DBS Supplier Day and provide training
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) DBS has identified;
- How DBS proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by DBS to promote sustainable procurement
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report DBS identified a range of material issues, such as cyber security, managing climate risks, financial inclusion, data governance and privacy, preventing financial crime. Among these, promoting sustainable procurement stands out as a key material issue for DBS.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups DBS engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics DBS engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
Investors | · Having virtual meetings with investors to understand their expectations on: · Sustainability strategy and governance · Sustainability-related financing · Climate-related risks in portfolio management · Sustainability reporting · Having ongoing and regular engagement with major ESG rating agencies and participating in ESG rating assessments on a regular basis |
Customers | · Running the annual Future Leaders Programme to raise awareness of DBS’s sustainability strategy and commitment · Conducting focus groups to evaluate interest for sustainable products · Disclosing sustainability efforts and initiatives on DBS’s websites · Educating elderly customers with newly launched digital products and services with the POSB Active Neighbours programme · Communicating with social enterprises to understand and address their practical challenges |
Employees | · Interacting through annual employee engagement survey, My Voice · Hosting Group-wide townhalls by the Group CEO that reiterate DBS’s sustainability strategy · Embedding a sustainability-focused session during the annual Group Leadership Conference for senior management · Encouraging sustainability interest groups (e.g. through volunteer-led initiatives within DBS) · Updating sustainability intranet portal with ongoing campaigns, initiatives and opportunities |
Society
| · Having regular meetings with community partners to understand and address practical challenges faced by DBS’s beneficiaries (e.g. Community Chest, People’s Association) · Engaging directly with NGOs and academic institutions to support innovation in tackling real-world sustainability challenges (e.g. GCNS, WWF, SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Lien Centre for Social Innovation) · Interacting with professional business associations on increasing awareness and best practices in business sustainability (e.g. UNGC, WBCSD) |
Regulators and policy makers
| · Meeting frequently with political stakeholders, officials, government agencies, and regulators · Participating in working groups and consultation forums on sustainability-related policies and industry practices, organised by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Association of Banks in Singapore, Singapore Institute of International Affairs, among others · Supporting governmental agencies in social outreach aligned with DBS’s sustainability strategy (e.g. Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, National Environment Agency on Towards Zero Food Waste) |
What actions were taken by DBS to promote sustainable procurement?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report DBS reports that it took the following actions for promoting sustainable procurement:
- Applying the Sustainable Sourcing Principles
- The Sustainable Sourcing Principles (SSP) have been central to DBS’s approach across its key markets since 2017. They outline DBS’s expectations of its suppliers across these key areas: (1) human rights, (2) health and safety, (3) environmental sustainability, as well as (4) business integrity and ethics. All new suppliers are reviewed against the SSP during registration and at regular intervals as part of DBS’s ongoing supplier management process. In 2020, 99.9% of DBS’s new suppliers signed their commitment to DBS’s No suppliers were identified to have caused significant negative environmental or social impacts in their operations or supply chains. There were also no terminated relationships post-assessment.
- Identifying supply chain high-risk categories
- DBS’s sustainability risk materiality assessment identifies specific categories with high ESG (environmental, social and governance) risks. DBS’s biennial assessment for Singapore, most recently carried out in 2019, identified 18 high-risk categories. For competitive tenders in these high-risk categories, DBS incorporated organisational sustainability into the evaluation and selection process. This sourcing philosophy creates a ripple effect by encouraging DBS’s suppliers to consider more sustainable solutions and modes of operation.
- Organising a DBS Supplier Day and providing training
- At its inaugural DBS Supplier Day, DBS invited its key suppliers to engage in conversations to raise the profile of sustainable business, with more than 120 participants in attendance. DBS also took the opportunity to recognise its top suppliers who exemplified sustainable best practices through its inaugural Supplier Excellence Awards. Additionally, DBS conducted its first four-day sustainability training programme with the Republic Polytechnic of Singapore. The sustainable operations training programme was conducted for 11 suppliers and included a project consulting segment aimed to help companies identify improvement areas in developing green innovations, minimising waste, and implementing cost-effective projects. DBS believes that its investment in this collaborative approach will provide better sustainable outcomes for its suppliers and in turn benefit DBS’ operations.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria
2) Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken
3) Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria
4) Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken
Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken does not correspond to any SDG.
Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.8
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Targets: 16.1
Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.8
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Targets: 16.1
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References:
This case study is based on published information by DBS, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
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