Learn About the Salesforce Sustainability Exhibit

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

Describe the intent of the Sustainability Exhibit.
Explain the key provisions of the Sustainability Exhibit.

At Salesforce, we have set ambitious targets to reduce and compensate for our full value chain emissions in pursuit of a 1.5°C future that avoids the worst impacts of climate change. To support these goals, we are working to include a set of binding climate-related contract provisions, which we call our Sustainability Exhibit, into our supplier agreements.

Visual summary of five key requirements of the Salesforce Sustainability Exhibit.

The Sustainability Exhibit requires suppliers to:

Set a science-based target (SBT) and use good faith efforts to achieve it by reducing absolute emissions. As introduced in Unit 1, SBTs guide our shared net zero journey with suppliers. They provide a globally-recognized framework for each company to chart their own path to decarbonize in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
Report the GHG emissions attributable to the products and/or services provided to Salesforce. Salesforce has prioritized reducing our GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 and reaching near-zero emissions by 2040. To effectively measure and manage our impact, we require that our suppliers share their GHG emissions data with us. The Exhibit also requires suppliers to begin publicly disclosing corporate scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 emissions.
Deliver the products and/or services on a carbon neutral basis. Salesforce believes that companies must prioritize reducing absolute emissions but should also act now to help accelerate the deployment of climate solutions. To mobilize such action, this provision requires suppliers to compensate for the residual emissions arising from the products or services provided to Salesforce with high-quality carbon credits.
Share a third-party sustainability scorecard on an annual basis. Third-party ratings help us evaluate suppliers’ sustainability performance and identify potential risks in our supply chain. EcoVadis is our preferred sustainability scorecard provider.
Agree to a climate positive remedy. The intent of the Exhibit is to help create a more sustainable future. If a supplier is unable to meet the agreed upon terms, the climate positive remedy obligates the supplier to fund an activity that removes or avoids emissions in the atmosphere, such as a renewable energy project or tree planting. This way even if things fall short, a more positive outcome is achieved for the planet than business as usual.

When it comes to implementing the Sustainability Exhibit, we’ve found that strategic supplier engagement, support from leadership, and empowering our teams are critical to scalable success.

We designed the Exhibit to be flexible while maintaining its integrity and ambition, which enables us to take a collaborative approach when engaging suppliers. We put significant consideration into the intent behind each provision, and we’ve aligned the consequences of non-compliance with our objective of ensuring a more sustainable future than business as usual.

Salesforce’s leaders recognize the critical role the Exhibit will play in achieving our climate commitments, increasing supply chain resilience, meeting increasing stakeholder demands, and demonstrating leadership. In FY23, Salesforce linked executive compensation to sustainability goals, including implementing the Sustainability Exhibit. This builds greater accountability and reinforces the message both internally and with suppliers that sustainability and net zero are priorities in our business relationships.

To support implementation at scale, we empower our Procurement and Legal teams with Exhibit training and playbooks. We’ve added the Exhibit to standard agreement templates, which means it’s part of the day-to-day contracting process. In addition to including the Exhibit with new contracts and renewals, we’ve engaged proactively with many of our highest impact suppliers to add the Exhibit as an amendment to their existing contract. Our vision is that climate provisions become the norm in supplier agreements, which is why we share the Exhibit and our approach publicly.

By requiring climate action in contracts, elevating sustainability in purchasing, and enabling our suppliers, our Supplier Sustainability programs are accelerating sustainability progress. Suppliers tell us that Salesforce’s clear customer call to action has been instrumental in making the business case for their climate strategy, and pushed them to move forward with high-impact initiatives, such as setting SBTs. We’re eager to continue working with suppliers that share our commitment to sustainability and want to partner together to deliver a low-carbon future for all.

Learn About the Salesforce Sustainability Exhibit

Learning Objectives

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