Focus on our sustainable sourcing practices

The Sourcing network is a major player in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy of Societe Generale group, reflecting its values and working to ensure that the Environmental and Social commitments are achieved. 

Begun in 2006, the Group's Sustainable Sourcing Policy is realised through long-term action plans involving all the stakeholders of the value chain (requestors, buyers and suppliers).

Our commitments in terms of responsible sourcing

Since 2007, Societe Generale has been strengthening its approach to responsible purchasing every year. Through the signing of charters and pacts the Group further proves its commitment.

Our responsible sourcing actions plan

Under the responsibility of the Purchasing Department, the Purchasing function handles the commercial and contractual processing of all the Group’s external commitments excluding salaries and direct personnel expenses.
Societe Generale’s Purchasing function is an important component of the Societe Generale Group’s CSR strategy, upholding its values and striving to meet its environmental and social commitments.
Initiated in 2006, the responsible purchasing policy, involving all stakeholders in the value chain (specifiers, buyers and suppliers), is now structured around two key areas.

Management of environmental and social risks

The management of environmental and social (E&S) risks in ensuring responsible purchasing and overseeing supplier relations is governed by the Group's documentation on standards. The operational implementation of this documentation on standards and the management of E&S risks at various stages of the purchasing process rely on tools to help identify, assess and manage E&S risks, at the level of the product or service purchased, and the supplier or service provider. These tools are deployed for purchases made by the Group Purchasing Department and at least for high-risk purchasing categories across the International Purchasing function and gradually across the rest of the Group.

Promotion of positive impact initiatives

In line with the Group’s CSR aims, three priorities have been defined. 

Quality of supplier relations

The aim of the Purchasing Department is to set an example in its relations with all its suppliers, and to strengthen the way in which CSR considerations are integrated into these relations. In addition, in the event of a dispute and if a conflict with the buyer cannot be resolved, Societe Generale favours mediation as a management method. 
The Group’s General Secretary assumes the role of internal mediator and may be contacted by email at: mediation.par@socgen.com.
Societe Generale is continuing with its commitment to SMEs – it was the first bank to sign the SME Pact in December 2007 – and demonstrates its commitment to them by regularly conducting a satisfaction survey. The Group received a 70% overall satisfaction rating in the last survey conducted in 2023. 145 SME suppliers in France responded. This represented a response rate of 39%, up 4 points. 

Using the Social and Solidarity Economy

In 2023, Societe Generale in France logged €14.8 million in expenses with Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) bodies and companies, exceeding the €14 million target that it had set itself for this period. In addition to increased involvement to help the adapted and protected sector, it is widening the scope of action to include partnerships with back-to-work schemes and other SSE players.

The environment

With regard to air travel and car fleets, the Purchasing Department plays a cross-functional steering role for the Group and advises the Business and Service Units, in order to help them achieve the Group’s carbon emission reduction targets (50% reduction between 2019 and 2030). In addition, the Purchasing Department is also involved in the Group’s initiatives to protect the planet’s biodiversity and, more specifically, in helping it to reach its target of eliminating single-use plastic among its employees by the end of 2025 throughout the Group. It is doing this by working with supplier ecosystems, in order to find alternative solutions that can be deployed operationally within the Group.

The Group’s purchasing practices form part of a continuous improvement approach and are in line with the continued implementation of the purchasing conduct and ethics rules applicable to purchasing. These are appended to the global agreement on fundamental rights with the UNI Global Union. Over the years, Societe Generale’s practices have been improved so that they now systematically take environmental and social considerations into account in the Group’s purchasing processes.