Sustainable Procurement Framework

Introduction

Green Earth already works closely with local NGOs and governments to prevent potential risks as much as possible. The aim of this procurement framework is to steer on clear basic principles of sustainability and responsible procurement, without building a rigid system that quickly becomes outdated, and to support existing systems in an accessible way.

This procurement framework creates a shared frame of reference that can also be easily passed on to new employees. It focuses in particular on cooperation with local and small enterprises (farmers), which have few resources to invest in additional sustainability measures.

By asking suppliers the right questions, Green Earth can, alongside the expertise of NGOs and governments, contribute in its own way to sustainable innovation and the development of suppliers and farmers, to healthy ecosystems and to reducing climate risks.

This framework is guided by the ESC/HR materiality analysis (Environmental Impact Assessment / Human Rights Risk Assessment) of the main procurement flows, carried out by NEWKINDS in accordance with B Lab Standard V2.2 (sub-requirements ESC5.1 and HR4.2), Gold Standard and Verra (VCS). It identifies the three most material procurement categories: seeds and planting material, labour (direct employee contracts and contractors), and transport and logistics.

Together, these frameworks form the underlying logic for Green Earth's choices in its procurement processes. Although Green Earth does not always determine the final choice of materials and processing, partly because of availability and budget constraints, it does have real influence through:

• asking suppliers critical questions;
• actively steering towards and introducing sustainable choices;
• advice and best practice in the use of materials and raw materials.

Because Green Earth plays a central role in project development, it is essential that it actively uses this influence.

This framework complements the Procurement and Purchase Authorization Policy in the Academy, which sets the approval limits and quotation rules for every purchase. This framework sets the sustainability and social questions; it does not change those limits.

Three instruments

This procurement framework consists of three instruments that can be used for this purpose:

1. Quickscan for suppliers and project partners
2. Social compliance questions for suppliers and project partners
3. Practical guidelines per category

See the appendices for the background of this framework and the underlying materiality analysis.

This procurement framework is available to all employees in the Academy. For questions, contact the Head of Business Development Green Earth.

1. Quickscan: questions for suppliers and project partners

2. Social compliance questions for suppliers and project partners

• Does the partner hold a recognised social certificate (SMETA, SA8000, BSCI, Fair Trade or equivalent), and can it be shared?
• Can the partner confirm that child labour, forced labour and discrimination do not occur (self-declaration or code of conduct)?
• Is there a reporting point where workers and local community members can report abuses?
• For contractor arrangements: is a human rights clause included in the framework contract?

Social compliance with suppliers and project partners

Green Earth develops nature-based carbon projects together with project partners and suppliers. Because our projects are registered with or in validation under the Gold Standard, social compliance is built into how we select, design and monitor every project.

What Gold Standard requires

Every Gold Standard project must complete a Safeguarding Principles Assessment as part of its Project Design Document. For each principle, we declare whether it is relevant and how the project meets it, and we add any mitigation measures to the project's Monitoring Plan. An independent auditor validates this assessment before certification. Compliance is checked again at every verification during the project's lifetime.

The assessment covers the following social areas, which apply to Green Earth and to all our implementing partners:

• human rights and non-discrimination, in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
• gender equality, including equal pay for equal work and alignment with the host country's national gender strategy;
• labour rights, in line with the ILO fundamental conventions and national law, including freedom of association, documented working agreements, a maximum of 48 working hours per week, at least 10 days of annual leave, health and safety training, and a ban on child labour;
• community health and safety;
• land tenure, so that participation is voluntary, participants must prove land ownership, and no one is relocated;
• indigenous peoples and cultural heritage;
• anti-corruption, supported by the zero-tolerance policy of our parent company, Green Earth Group N.V., for its staff and contractors;
• economic impact, so that projects must not harm local livelihoods.

Gold Standard also requires consultation with local stakeholders and a grievance mechanism for communities in every project.

Ongoing follow-up

We are in regular contact with our project partners to discuss implementation, including social aspects, and to agree on corrective actions where needed. Safeguarding measures are reported through the Gold Standard monitoring and verification cycle.

Evidence: Project Design Documents with Safeguarding Principles Assessments, Gold Standard validation and verification reports, stakeholder consultation reports, and partnership agreements with our implementing partners.

3. Practical guidelines per category

Appendix A — Background to this framework

This framework is based on:

• the ESC/HR materiality analysis (EIA/HRRA) of Green Earth's thirteen most important procurement flows, together representing 80% of total procurement value (€4,465,643);
• the regrouping of these flows into three underlying risk categories, because risk is driven primarily by what is procured (seeds, labour, transport), not by the project name under which it is recorded;
• B Lab Standard V2.2, sub-requirements ESC5.1 and HR4.2.

Note: the spend figures for seeds and planting material and for transport and logistics are currently ceiling values. They are based on the full project spend of the underlying partners (forest restoration projects in Uganda, Kazakhstan and Cameroon).

Although Green Earth does not always determine the direct implementation of forest restoration projects, partly because of local availability and project context, the company does have real influence through:

• asking project partners and suppliers critical questions;
• actively steering partners towards fair employment conditions and responsibly sourced planting material;
• making deliberate choices about which partners and platforms are used.

Green Earth's greatest environmental and social impact lies in the procurement of seeds and planting material and the deployment of labour in project countries.

Appendix B — Responsible sourcing framework

1. Stop, rethink and reduce

The most sustainable choice is often not to do something at all. For every procurement decision, we first look at retaining existing partnerships and materials, removing unnecessary intermediate steps in the project chain, and reducing the amount of material purchased or labour hired to what is actually needed. Less unnecessary procurement means less impact, lower costs and less complexity in implementation.

2. Choose the circular or local option

When new material or new labour capacity is needed, we first look for the most circular or local solution. The R-ladder is used as the order of preference: reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture with existing components, and only then recycling or new material.

In practice, this means among other things that local nurseries and local workers are preferred over international arrangements, and that reusing planting material is preferred over new planting from seed where this is ecologically responsible.

3. Avoid high-risk sources and arrangements

Planting material from potentially invasive species, and labour arrangements without insight into the underlying conditions, are avoided where alternatives are available. This reduces the environmental impact on the project ecosystem and limits labour risks in the chain.

4. Prefer renewable sources and transparent employment relationships

Where there is a choice, preference is given to locally indigenous and native planting materials, and to employment relationships with documented and shareable conditions.

Certified planting material is generally not available in our project regions. We therefore prioritise native species from local nurseries with traceable origin; where certification or independent verification is available, it is preferred.

Examples also include contractors with a demonstrable human rights policy, and logistics partners with verifiable labour standards. This choice automatically steers towards lower environmental impact and lower labour risk.

5. Certified is preferred where available

Certificates are not a guarantee, but they are the best available substantiation of sustainable choices. A certificate does not mean that a partner is by definition "good", but that it scores better than a comparable partner without certification, so the comparison always applies within the same category.

Applied to Green Earth, this means for example that, where certified planting material is available, it is a better choice than material without proof of origin. Where it is not available, the traceability rule in point 4 applies.

Certification helps Green Earth to make consistent choices, question partners in a targeted way, and exert influence on the chain that would not be feasible without certification.

Appendix C — Materiality analysis and supplier risk matrix

This matrix underpins the three categories in this framework. The procurement framework determines how choices are made; this matrix substantiates why these three categories are prioritised. Source: EIA/HRRA materiality analysis Green Earth.

Appendix D — Responsible sourcing framework for carbon offset projects

When selecting carbon offset projects, Green Earth applies a consistent framework based on the Gold Standard and Verra standards. This framework ensures robust, verified CO₂ reductions with demonstrable co-benefits.

• Additionality: do not pay for what would have happened anyway. Check that the project would not be carried out without external financing and that the investment genuinely delivers additional CO₂ reduction.
• Verification and transparency: CO₂ reductions must be independently verified and must not be double counted. Preference for projects with long-term monitoring and clear audit trails.
• Co-benefits: select projects with measured impact beyond CO₂ alone: job creation, health, food security, gender equality or biodiversity.
• Governance: avoid projects with unclear land rights, speculative assumptions, or self-reporting without independent checks.
• Certification: Gold Standard- and Verra-certified offsets are preferred. Neither standard guarantees that a project is perfect, but both ensure that it demonstrably scores better than non-certified alternatives in the same category.

Good to know: Gold Standard explicitly requires projects to apply human rights, gender equality and indigenous rights as selection criteria. Projects must report co-benefits, but reporting is not a guarantee of actual jobs or health gains. Verra focuses primarily on CO₂ integrity and biodiversity.