Green Procurement Playbook 2025

To ensure these models are effective, leading companies establish clear structures around roles, governance and oversight, with well-defined responsibilities and accountability. Examples include category managers integrating sustainability into sourcing, or functional leads from sustainability, finance, or operations supporting implementation. Formal checkpoints ensure that decisions incorporate sustainability, such as requiring joint approval from procurement and sustainability leads for high-risk suppliers. Escalation paths help resolve trade-offs between cost and sustainability, preventing tensions from stalling progress. Crucially, executive visibility reinforces accountability. Several companies now report green procurement progress in quarterly reviews or to Board-level committees, helping secure support and resources at the highest level.7 We have a dedicated team focused on sustainable procurement, around 15 people globally, working on decarbonization, human rights and supplier diversity. That central team is really the enabler of the category leads for them to deliver on the goals we set. Bayer Green Procurement Playbook: The CPO’s Guide to Delivering Value for Business and Planet 24