Climate Excellence Standard for health sector suppliers

The Climate Excellence Standard (CES) for Health Sector Suppliers was launched in 2023 to define superior performance in decarbonization among individual suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, ensuring the health care supply chain is aligned with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, while improving resilience. Urgent action across the supply chain is required to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels to cut death and diseases associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and reduce healthcare costs for patients and providers. 

Purpose and use:

Use of the standard will include showcasing suppliers that attain climate excellence status, giving them visibility at events and publications, and highlighting the collaborations that make advancements possible. By featuring successes by health care leaders, we will accelerate momentum to decarbonize the sector, ultimately influencing the broader economy.

Health systems and their group purchasing organizations shall embed some or all of the requirements into requests for information, requests for proposals, or contracts so product or supplier selection is informed by emissions performance.

Supplier performance will be verifiable through publicly accessible websites.

This standard will be updated periodically to align with rapidly evolving developments in supply chain decarbonization, ensuring that it continues to define the standard for excellence. 

Requirements of the Climate Excellence Standard

As of January 1, 2026 achievement of the CES requires meeting both Phase 1 and Phase 2 requirements specified below.

The updated Phase 1 requirements continue as foundational elements of climate excellence at the corporate level, including:

1. Publicly commit to a near-term or long-term science-based emissions reduction target as defined by SBTi, and
2. Measure Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and
3. Disclose emissions through publicly accessible and recognized platforms (disclosures only on suppliers’ corporate websites do not meet this criteria), and
4. Provide reasonable assurances for Scopes 1 and 2 emissions data through an independent third-party assurance provider.
5. Prepare and execute a publicly available plan to reduce operational emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) and the most relevant Scope 3 categories as defined through SBTi's materiality screening criteria.
6. Incentivize major vendors or subcontractors that reflect at least 20% of spend to commit to a science-based target along with the other requirements described in this section.

Items 1-4 are met if emissions target and plan have been submitted to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) for approval, or the company has an SBTi-approved plan.

Phase 2 (2026-2030) raises the bar by requiring demonstrable Scope 3 emissions reductions over the next 5 years.

2.0 Emissions target and plan have been submitted to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) committing to a Near-Term Science Based Target for Scope 3 emissions aligned with achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

OR

2.1 Publicly demonstrate progress toward a 50% reduction for Scopes 1 and 2 by 2030 from a baseline no earlier than 2008, and

2.2 Publicly demonstrate that you measure at least 90% of your total value chain emissions, consistent with SBTi requirements for Scope 3 coverage, and that adequate annual progress is aligned with reducing those emissions by at least 20% by 2030. If the baseline year is 2025 this works out to about 5% per year in reductions. Baseline years may be set from 2015 to present.

Focus Areas & Example Interventions

Suggested areas of reduction include, but are not limited to, material categories such as purchased goods & services, capital goods, fuel and energy-related activities, upstream transportation and distribution, waste, downstream transportation and distribution, processing of sold products, use of sold products, and end-of-life treatment of sold products.

Suppliers are responsible for deciding how they achieve emissions reductions, but action in the following Scope 3 categories should impact emissions derived from medical products and are of most interest to health system customers committed to reducing their own Scope 3 emissions:

• Category 1 - Purchased goods & services, e.g., Redesign product, shift to lower-carbon materials, work with your suppliers to scale reusables.
• Category 2 - Capital goods, e.g., Require verified low-carbon construction and equipment supply chains. Increase reusable and reprocessing product options.
• Category 3 - Fuel- and energy-related activities, e.g., Eliminate fossil fuel dependence by accelerating Scope 1 and 2 decarbonization.
• Category 4 - Upstream transport & distribution, e.g., Include language in contracts with suppliers that they will decarbonize their transportation and distribution processes. Request regular reports on progress to ensure decarbonization.
• Category 5 - Waste, e.g., Redesign to minimize waste during manufacturing and integrate circular material use.
• Category 9 - Downstream transport & distribution, e.g., Decarbonize outbound logistics through more efficient or electric fleets, route optimization, and modal shifts.
• Category 10 - Industrial processing of sold products, e.g., Improve product design for energy efficient processing, offer low-carbon product options.
• Category 11 - Use of sold products, e.g., Reduce carbon intensity and embed efficiency requirements in customer use-phase.
• Category 12 - End-of-life treatment of sold products, e.g., Implement "extended producer responsibility" initiatives such as take-back, reuse, and recycling programs with documented emissions reductions.

Alignment with Health System Goals

By including CES provisions as preferences in procurement decisions, health systems will:

• Ensure credible near-term emissions in reductions,
• Drive innovation in sustainable product lines,
• Improve resilience of supply chains, and
• Advance their own science-based net-zero commitments while safeguarding public health.