The Sustainable Procurement Pledge

What The Sustainable Procurement Pledge does

The Sustainable Procurement Pledge (SPP) is a pro-bono community founded in 2019 and headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, with a staff of 1–10. The organization is registered as for-profit but operates functionally as a pledge-style initiative rather than a commercial vendor, focused on helping global procurement organizations and supply chain functions embed sustainability into procurement strategy. Its stated differentiator is a "rational sustainability" positioning that emphasizes long-term value creation and measurable financial returns over headline 2030 pledges.

SPP's core service is advisory and community-building around sustainable procurement, addressing pain points such as sustainability deprioritization under political and economic pressure, the need for improved supplier data integrity, and the construction of durable supply chain partnerships. The primary customer segment is horizontal — global procurement organizations across industries — and the value proposition targets practical, financially grounded sustainability outcomes rather than ESG marketing.

The organization was co-founded by Bertrand Conqueret, who simultaneously serves as Chief Procurement Officer of Henkel and President of Global Supply Chain. Henkel functions as a founding strategic partner, providing institutional credibility through executive sponsorship. No proprietary technology platform, AI capability, product portfolio, or revenue-generating offering is documented; the website (spp.earth) is the only public surface, and no pricing, customer logos, funding rounds, or operational KPIs are disclosed in the source data.

Name

The Sustainable Procurement Pledge

Website

https://spp.earth

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Sustainable Procurement Pledge is a pro-bono community founded in 2019 in Düsseldorf that helps global procurement organizations embed sustainable practices into their supply chain strategies, anchored by a founding partnership with Henkel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainable Procurement Advisory

NAICS

Business Associations (81391)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Procurement & Contracting (BPAIAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sustainable Procurement & Supply Chain (Scope 3 supplier engagement, sustainable materials) (THABANAJ)

Keywords

• Sustainable procurement
• Procurement advisory
• Supply chain sustainability
• Sustainability commitments
• Procurement community

Headquarters

HQ city

Düsseldorf

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

The Sustainable Procurement Pledge is a pro-bono community that convenes global procurement organizations to embed sustainability into their procurement and supply chain strategies. It operates as a pledge-based initiative that helps members improve data integrity, build supply chain partnerships, and deliver measurable financial returns through long-term, rational sustainability commitments rather than short-term marketing-driven pledges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sustainable Procurement Pledge Community Membership A pro-bono community and pledge-based commitment framework that enables global procurement organizations to formally commit to and advance sustainability within their procurement and supply chain strategies.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• HenkelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHenkel CPO Bertrand Conqueret serves as co-founder and president of global supply chain for the Sustainable Procurement Pledge. This represents a founding partnership where Henkel, through its executive leadership, helped establish SPP as an initiative to advance sustainable procurement practices globally.

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Achilles Information: Supplier pre-qualification and sustainability/network data services for global procurement organizations. Comparable to SPP in targeting the buyer-side sustainable procurement workflow, particularly in industrial and energy sectors, with a more developed data infrastructure.
• Supplier.io: Supplier diversity and sustainability data platform serving enterprise procurement organizations. Comparable to SPP in helping procurement teams operationalize sustainability and supplier data, though it specializes in diversity-driven sourcing programs alongside ESG.
• IntegrityNext: SaaS platform that helps procurement organizations monitor supplier sustainability and compliance across Scope 3 and supply chain due diligence. Directly comparable to SPP in targeting the same buyer use cases — sustainability strategy, data integrity, supply chain partnerships.

Broad incumbents

• EcoVadis: Global sustainability ratings platform widely used by procurement teams to assess supplier ESG performance. Comparable to SPP because it directly serves the sustainable procurement function, though it operates as a paid SaaS ratings business rather than a community pledge.
• SAP Ariba: Market-leading procurement and supplier collaboration network used by global enterprises. Comparable as a foundational procurement platform where sustainability workflows increasingly live, positioning it as both a competitor and a potential channel partner for SPP's pledge.
• Coupa Software: Enterprise procurement and spend management platform with embedded ESG and supplier sustainability features. Comparable because it serves the same global procurement buyers that SPP targets, but as a broad procurement suite rather than a sustainability community.
• CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project): Global disclosure system used by procurement organizations and their suppliers to report on environmental impact. Comparable as a sustainability data backbone that procurement teams rely on, though operating at a much broader environmental scale than SPP's procurement-specific focus.

Direct peers

• Sedex: Membership-based platform for buyers and suppliers to manage ethical and sustainable supply chain data. Closely comparable to SPP in combining a community/collaborative model with sustainable procurement focus, although Sedex is a paid B2B platform with mature technology.

Others

• The Climate Pledge: Cross-industry pledge co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism committing signatories to net-zero by 2040. Comparable to SPP as a high-profile sustainability pledge/community with corporate signatories, though it focuses on corporate-wide net-zero rather than procurement-specific practices.
• B Lab / B Corp: Global certification community of businesses committed to verified social and environmental performance. Comparable to SPP in being a community-based pledge/movement format, though B Corp certifies individual companies rather than procurement functions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Sustainable Procurement Pledge