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Aavenir Atlas early access is open Contractflow on the ServiceNow Store since 2019 Runs on ServiceNow, or standalone ProcureTech100 2025/26 Pioneering Digital Solution ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, SOC 2 Type 2 compliant

Glossary

What is ESG compliant sourcing?

ESG compliant sourcing is choosing suppliers on environmental, social and governance factors as well as cost and quality, and writing those standards into contracts.

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What it involves

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliant sourcing adds sustainability and ethical tests to supplier selection. Buyers look at how suppliers manage emissions and waste, treat workers, respect human rights and run their business with integrity, and they weigh those findings alongside price, quality and delivery.

The procurement role

  • Set environmental, social and governance criteria for each category.
  • Assess suppliers against them during sourcing.
  • Write the standards into contracts, with reporting and audit rights.
  • Monitor suppliers after award and act on failures.
  • Work with suppliers on improvements and new approaches.

Why it matters

Customers, investors and regulators increasingly hold companies responsible for their supply chains, not only their own operations. Sourcing is where most of that impact is decided, so it is where standards have the most effect.

How Aavenir handles it

RFPflow adds environmental, social and governance questions to sourcing events and scores the answers. ComplianceNext tracks supplier evidence and certifications after award.

Keep reading

Sustainable procurement Sustainable procurement weighs social, environmental and economic impact in buying decisions, alongside price and quality.Read more Supply chain sustainability Supply chain sustainability is managing the environmental and social impact of goods and services across the supply chain.Read more Supplier evaluation Supplier evaluation assesses potential and current suppliers on measures of cost, quality, risk and capability.Read more

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Common questions

What does ESG stand for?

Environmental, social and governance. Environmental covers emissions, waste and resource use. Social covers labor, safety and human rights. Governance covers ethics, transparency and anti corruption. Read about sustainable procurement.

How do you assess a supplier on environmental, social and governance standards?

Use questionnaires, certifications, third-party ratings and site audits, weighted by the category's risk. Ask for evidence, not just statements, and verify the answers that matter most. Read about supplier evaluation.

How do contracts support responsible sourcing?

By making standards binding: codes of conduct, reporting duties, audit rights and remedies if a supplier falls short. Those obligations then need tracking after signature. Contracts turn good intentions into enforceable duties. See ComplianceNext.

Have a question we have not answered? Ask the Expert

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See your contracts run on one record.

  • 1 A 30 minute walkthrough Built around your team, whether that is procurement, legal, IT or finance.
  • 2 Your contracts, not ours Bring a few sample agreements and watch Aavenir AI extract and review them.
  • 3 ServiceNow or standalone We show the deployment that fits the systems you already run.

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