Innovation & Technology Collaboration & Co-Creation

Unprecedented Industry Collab Paves Way for Decarbonization of Global Supply Chains

With foundational support from Apple, Amazon, Meta, Nike, PepsiCo and REI, the Clean Energy Procurement Academy aims to equip companies with the knowledge required to shift to clean energy.

Published 1 year ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: Ming Z

Supply chain emissions — aka Scope 3 emissions — account for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions and can represent the majority of a company's total carbon footprint. In an industry first, leading corporate energy customers have come together to launch the Clean Energy Procurement Academy (CEBA) to equip companies with the technical readiness to explore and adopt clean energy — an essential step toward global decarbonization.

Apple and Nike initiated the project through the Clean Energy Buyers Institute (CEBI) and were joined by Amazon, Meta, PepsiCo and REI Co-op as founding organizations to plan and execute the Clean Energy Procurement Academy.

“To address the climate crisis, we need to act quickly to expand access to clean energy around the world. Businesses can help drive that change,” said Sarah Chandler, Apple’s VP of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation. “As we make progress to ensure every Apple product is carbon neutral by 2030, we will continue to work closely with our global suppliers to support their transition to renewable energy. We’re proud to collaborate with CEBA and others to expand those efforts beyond our supply chain and across industries.”

Corporate engagement around renewables continues to grow, as seen in the growth of initiatives such as RE100 — which now boasts over 400 members. But according to RE100 research released earlier this year, high costs, limited supply and a lack of procurement options presented ongoing barriers to RE100 members looking to procure renewable electricity. CEPA aims to help eliminate those barriers.

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“We continue to leverage our scale to drive impact and support suppliers in mitigating their climate risk,” said Noel Kinder, Chief Sustainability Officer at Nike. “The Clean Energy Procurement Academy is key to breaking down barriers to clean energy adoption, while also helping us demonstrate demand and advocate for clean energy solutions in essential regions. Collaborating cross-industry helps us tackle systemic challenges together.”

Designed to speed up the integration of clean energy into global supply chains, the Academy will blend in-person and online training, along with comprehensive educational resources to:

Boost supply chain companies’ capacity to invest in renewable energy through education and data accessibility.
Foster synergy among different industries tackling shared challenges in supply chain climate action.
Encourage supply chain companies to escalate their renewable energy goals and commitments.
Establish new renewable-energy buying communities in pivotal manufacturing regions.

“REI is proud to be part of the Clean Energy Procurement Academy. As a co-op, we believe in collaborating with other leading brands on the greatest problem facing our business and society,” said Kate Wendt, VP of Strategy, Transformation & Sustainability. “We're excited to work alongside our partners to accelerate supplier decarbonization efforts by developing a platform that is more powerful than what any company could develop alone.

Apple, Amazon, Meta, Nike, PepsiCo and REI launched CEPA — which is also supported by the We Mean Business Coalition — to build capacity of select supply chain partners in energy markets that contribute material volumes of greenhouse gas emissions. The founding companies pooled their expertise and internal training resources to design a shared training curriculum and delivery processes that enable trainees to rapidly mature as clean-energy customers.

“At PepsiCo, we are eager to help lead the way toward net-zero. Climate change threatens the prosperity of people and communities — especially those within our business’ agricultural supply chain with threats to biodiversity, temperature extremes, adverse weather events, droughts, coastal flooding and more,” said Roberta Barbieri, VP of Global Sustainability at PepsiCo. “Renewable energy plays an important part in helping us reach our climate goals and in our efforts to drive a positive value chain. With the launch of the Clean Energy Procurement Academy, we’re proud to share PepsiCo’s experience and play a role in shaping training and tools to support organizations looking to embed clean energy into their global supply chains.”

The Clean Energy Buyers Institute is a public benefit charity dedicated to solving the toughest market and policy barriers to achieving a carbon-free energy system. The Clean Energy Procurement Academy is the first major initiative of CEBI’s Global Programs, which launched in 2022 with foundational funding support from Google.org.

The launch of CEPA comes on the heels of an open letter — coordinated by the We Mean Business Coalition and signed by over 130 corporate giants — calling on heads of state and government attending next month’s COP28 to meaningfully address the primary cause of climate change: the burning of fossil fuels. Signatories call on leaders to set clear targets and timelines for phasing down and out unabated fossil fuels, and back that up with policies that enable a rapid scaling of clean-energy infrastructure and solutions — a sharp contrast from the outcome of COP27, which saw world leaders backpedaling on previous stated support for a global phase-out of fossil fuels.