Salesforce got key suppliers to promise emissions cuts. Here’s how

More than half of Salesforce’s most strategic suppliers — based on the amount the $38 billion software company spends on goods and services —  have agreed to cut their greenhouse gas emissions as part of binding provisions in their contracts.

Those clauses are part of the Salesforce Sustainability Exhibit, introduced four years ago, in May 2021, as an amendment to the company’s standard contact language.

Among other things, the exhibit requires Salesforce business partners to set science-based emissions reduction targets within two years of signing, figure out the amount attributable to doing business with Salesforce and come up with a plan to deliver those goods or services in a carbon-neutral way. The contract calls upon suppliers to invest in some sort of remedy — such as investing in renewable energy or planting trees — if it can’t deliver emissions cuts.

The initiative is part of Salesforce’s high-level pledge to cut the carbon footprint of its supply chain in half by FY2031. The company has committed to an absolute reduction of 50 percent for all emissions by 2030.

“These are the things that we need from our suppliers in order for us to be able to make progress against these commitments,” said Louisa McGuirk, sustainable procurement director at Salesforce.

One-on-one interactions overcome reluctance

Salesforce prioritized its biggest contractors during renewals to introduce the Sustainability Exhibit, with procurement managers reaching out personally to explain the rationale behind the change, address potential objections and come up with ways to address them. Common themes:

• Many suppliers needed their legal teams to review the exhibit paperwork because it was novel.
• Some companies had no sustainability strategy in place and the concept of setting emissions reduction goals was completely new.
• Most suppliers needed buy-in at the leadership level.
• Others were concerned about the costs associated with creating, measuring and managing an emissions reduction target.

Along the way, Salesforce adjusted certain requirements; for example, instead of setting a specific year by which all suppliers needed to come up with their strategy, it adjusted the deadlines to accommodate individual business needs. “We do an annual review and make sure things still align,” McGuirk said.

The company also created a net-zero toolkit outlining the process of setting commitments. And it offered coaching to smaller companies to help them come up to speed on core concepts related to emissions reductions and guide them through the process of creating an initial greenhouse gas inventory. Salesforce also helps cover the costs of submitting data to EcoVadis, which tracks disclosures.

Compliance as a business differentiator

Visions Management, a small, woman-owned firm that handles facilities management, knew little about net zero before it was approached by Salesforce. “When the contract was first presented, I was overwhelmed,” said Visions founder and CEO Amy Garber. “I didn’t know what it all meant. I was afraid of failure.”

Positive reaction from Visions’ employees convinced the company to make the push. It received coaching from Salesforce to assist with the transition and used interns from a local high school to gather data and research viable options for purchasing carbon credits. 

Visions had its science-based targets for emission reductions approved by the Science Based Targets initiative in early 2025. It discusses that status with current and prospective customers. “I feel like we have won deals because of this. It’s another piece that adds to the value of our services,” Garber said.   

Procurement as an adoption driver

Adoption of the Sustainability Exhibit as a percentage of the Salesforce’s spending with outside suppliers will slow on an annual basis, McGuirk said, because it started with its biggest contractors.

The reason Salesforce targeted contractors by spending — rather than on their emissions — was because progress was easier to track using existing carbon accounting methods, she said.

“We’ve heard from a handful of suppliers that without Salesforce’s nudge, or the Exhibit, that they wouldn’t have set targets or it would have taken a lot longer to set those targets,” McGuirk said.

Many large companies actively encourage suppliers to reduce emissions through science-based targets — and some even offer educational resources and technical assistance to help — but Salesforce remains unique in codifying those commitments as part of its procurement process, according to sustainability consultants. That said, software maker Zendesk, itself a Salesforce supplier, introduced a similar set of contract clauses in December 2024. 

Salesforce’s adoption numbers are impressive, considering how long it can take to train corporate procurement teams to have these conversations and the reluctance to alienate key suppliers, said Emily Damon, chief growth officer at consulting firm ClimeCo. “If it comes from your sustainability team, it’s cute. If it comes from procurement, it is serious.”

A benefit of these programs is that help large companies gather more specific metrics surrounding the full extent of their Scope 3 emissions, getting more accurate data than the estimates they are typically forced to use, said Cooper Wechkin, founder and CEO at RyeStrategy, which is coaching some of Salesforce’s suppliers.

Best practices

According to the experts consulted for this story, companies interested in shaping programs similar to that of Salesforce should:

• Involve procurement teams. They can help prioritize engagement and signal which suppliers might find new requirements difficult to meet.
• Provide technical support. Many companies, especially smaller ones, will need to be educated on the concept of net zero.
• Offer options. Allow suppliers to choose the emissions reduction path that makes the most sense for their business rather than dictating a one-size-fits all approach. 
• Look for ways to support supplier investments. For example, a corporation could motivate supplier investments in renewable energy or lower-emissions materials through better procurement terms. “This is where you’ll start to see a lot more pull-through with companies that are more slow-moving,” Wechkin said.

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