An initiative of Discover South Kensington
An initiative of Discover South Kensington
News
6 January 2025
The South Ken ZEN+ Supply Chain Charter has now been finalized, marking a significant step forward in bolstering our shared commitment towards sustainability as a neighbourhood. The Charter is a useful framework for our member institutions to improve their procurement practices and engage with their suppliers on improving sustainability.
The South Ken ZEN+ Supply Chain Charter is designed to align our members’ procurement practices with our overarching goal of being a zero emissions, nature-positive neighbourhood.
We aim to go faster together and collaborate to accelerate our progress towards a net zero, nature positive future.
You can download a copy of the South Ken ZEN+ Supply Chain Charter here.
Informed by existing and emerging best practice from within the sector, this six-page document is scalable and non-proscriptive, allowing each organization to adopt the principles in a way that suits their unique circumstances. The Charter sets out our own commitments towards more sustainable practices, as well as what we expect from our wider supply chain.
Collaboration is central to the document - signatories commit to working with suppliers who are dedicated to reducing their environmental impact through practices such as minimizing waste, using renewable resources, and tangibly reducing carbon emissions.
Transparency and accountability are also key components, with a commitment to clear procurement processes and to holding ourselves and our suppliers accountable to the standards established.
The South Ken ZEN+ Charter sets a constructive direction and signatories are committing to collect and share performance data and learnings and maximise opportunities for improvement.
The South Ken ZEN+ Programme has identified four priority areas for action:
The scope of this Charter reflects the four themes above, which focus on environmental sustainability. These themes overlap with five discrete areas in the ISO 20400 Standard for Sustainable Procurement (2017) which are material to our environmental ambitions and form the structural basis of our Charter. They are:
We also anticipate the scope of our Charter to grow to encompass wider sustainable procurement ambitions as our approach evolves and matures. To ensure the charter remains relevant and impactful, it will be reviewed and upgraded every two years. This commitment to continuous improvement is essential for maintaining momentum in all our sustainability initiatives.
