Green finance is taking on major importance today in corporate strategies oriented towards sustainable development. It aims to direct financial flows towards activities capable of reducing impacts on the environment, improving transparency and strengthening overall resilience. This dynamic is progressively transforming the way budgets are allocated, including within the procurement function, which has become a decisive lever for achieving ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) objectives. By directing their choices towards more sustainable products, committed suppliers and circular economy solutions, organisations align their procurement policy with the climate, social and economic ambitions driven by sustainable finance.
What is green finance and how does it relate to ESG criteria?
Green finance refers to all financial mechanisms that support projects or activities beneficial to the environment. It rests on three key pillars:
- Decarbonisation: progressive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;
- Transparency: ability to justify budgetary choices through reliable quantitative data;
- Resilience: the company's ability to anticipate, absorb and overcome social, climate or economic risks.
These principles are becoming essential for meeting investor expectations, strengthening extra-financial credibility and directing financial flows towards responsible supply chains.
The main objective of green finance is to encourage funding aligned with the imperatives of environmental transition: energy efficiency, waste reduction, development of sustainable products, low carbon solutions, and resource protection.
It is not limited to dedicated financial products (green bonds, labelled funds): it progressively influences operational and budgetary practices, particularly resource allocation within procurement. The more the latter prioritises responsible solutions, the more the company can demonstrate its contribution to ESG objectives.
How does sustainable procurement contribute to the green finance strategy?
By influencing the entire value chain, procurement plays an essential role in achieving ESG commitments. Its impact extends well beyond internal performance, since a large proportion of emissions, social risks and resource consumption occurs at the supplier level.
Reducing carbon footprint: Why the procurement function is decisive for Scope 3
The majority of emissions linked to a company come from its Scope 3, that is, those generated by purchased products, their manufacturing, transport and end of life. By selecting responsible offers, supporting partners committed to decarbonisation and favouring optimised logistics, the procurement function directly contributes to improving overall environmental performance.
As Antoine Compin, Managing Director of Manutan France and Iberia, reminds us: "80% of a company's CSR strategy is supported by the procurement department. Through your strategic influence upstream in the value chain, you can contribute to decarbonising your company whilst preserving resources and the environment."
This vision fully aligns with the principles of green finance, which values structural initiatives within the supply chain.
Integrating sustainable procurement practices to strengthen social and ethical commitments
Sustainable procurement is not limited to carbon impacts. It also encompasses:
- The quality of working conditions at suppliers;
- Respect for human rights throughout the supply chain;
- The promotion of diversity and inclusion;
- The use of sustainable and repairable products;
- Waste reduction through circular economy solutions.
This holistic approach strengthens coherence between sustainable procurement, economic performance and green finance requirements.
Integrating ESG criteria into your procurement budget: Which methods to prioritise?
The integration of ESG criteria implies an evolution in budgeting, evaluation and management practices. The objective is not to increase costs but to create sustainable, measurable value aligned with stakeholder expectations.
Deploying a procurement budget aligned with green finance
A budget aligned with sustainable finance rests on two complementary levers:
- The creation of green budgets, that is, the allocation of a portion of the budget to procurement, favouring environmental transition;
- ESG weighting in calls for tender, enabling the valuation of suppliers' environmental, social and ethical performance as much as economic criteria.
This type of approach strengthens the ability to demonstrate responsible resource allocation and optimise overall performance.
Structuring your supplier evaluation: ESG scoring and continuous performance monitoring
ESG integration also requires a structured evaluation system. Companies can deploy:
- Supplier scoring integrating quantifiable indicators;
- Regular data analysis (emissions, social conditions, certifications, governance);
- Contractualisation of sustainable improvement plans.
In this approach, Manutan's Expert Advisory/Assistance service supports you with genuine human expertise to validate specifications and guide your choice (available in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Portugal, at content publication date).
The rise of the European Green Taxonomy: A structural framework for sustainable procurement
Green finance now relies on a reference regulatory framework at European level: the European Green Taxonomy. This precisely defines what can be considered a "sustainable" economic activity with regard to the European Union's environmental objectives.
Its ambition is twofold:
- Harmonise sustainability criteria to avoid greenwashing;
- Direct financial flows towards activities genuinely aligned with ecological transition.
The taxonomy rests on six environmental objectives, including combating climate change, adapting to climate risks, sustainable use of resources and pollution prevention. To be considered sustainable, an activity must contribute substantially to one of these objectives without harming the others, whilst respecting minimum social safeguards.
CSRD and taxonomy: New requirements that strengthen the role of procurement
Since 2024-2025, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has required a growing number of companies to publish detailed extra-financial information, including the proportion of their activities, investments and operating costs aligned with the European Taxonomy.
In this context, the procurement function becomes a central lever. A significant proportion of expenditure (CapEx and OpEx) is directly linked to suppliers, products and purchased services. The ability to demonstrate taxonomic alignment therefore largely depends on:
- The selection of suppliers whose activities are compatible with taxonomy criteria;
- The identification of products and solutions contributing to eligible environmental objectives;
- The traceability of ESG data associated with procurement.
Procurement departments thus play a key role in the reliability of CSRD reporting and in the concrete demonstration of the company's contribution to green finance.
Aligning procurement policy with the taxonomy: A strategic opportunity
Integrating the green taxonomy into procurement policy is not limited to a regulatory constraint. It is a strategic opportunity to:
- Structure ESG criteria in calls for tender;
- Prioritise suppliers committed to environmental transition;
- Secure access to sustainable financing;
- Strengthen the credibility of the CSR strategy with investors and financial partners.
By linking sustainable procurement, green finance and the European Taxonomy, companies have a robust framework to manage their extra-financial performance, direct their budgets responsibly and inscribe their supply chain on a sustainable and measurable trajectory.
What are the main green finance tools for procurement departments?
To secure ESG performance, several tools and standards facilitate the evaluation and structuring of sustainable procurement.
Labels, certifications and ESG platforms for reliable and traceable procurement policy
Among the most widely used tools within the framework of sustainable finance, we find:
- ISO 20400, international reference for sustainable procurement;
- EcoVadis, CSR performance evaluation platform;
- Green labels certifying product sustainability;
- Committed banks offering financial services aligned with ESG criteria;
- ESG platforms facilitating the monitoring of data and indicators.
These tools enable purchasing decisions to be made more reliable and extra-financial communication to be structured.
Internal collaborations: How to align procurement, finance and CSR in an integrated approach?
Green finance relies on the convergence of three areas of expertise: procurement, finance and CSR.
Better data sharing, a common understanding of objectives and clear governance strengthen the ability to select sustainable suppliers, manage risks and optimise budgets over the long term.
This collaborative operation also contributes to securing regulatory compliance at European level.
How to monitor and manage the impact of your procurement policy on green finance?
Management is essential to maintain course and demonstrate the value created by sustainable procurement. ESG data must be consolidated, analysed and presented clearly to stakeholders.
Key KPIs to measure the ESG maturity of procurement
Among the most widely used indicators:
- Proportion of ESG-aligned budget;
- Evolution of supplier scoring;
- Emissions avoided or reduced through responsible products;
- Rate of use of circular economy solutions (recycling, reuse, repairability).
Extra-financial reporting, audits and communication: Promoting the strategy to investors
A procurement policy aligned with sustainable finance requires rigorous extra-financial reporting, often externally audited. Information must be structured, transparent and illustrated by factual data: progression of KPIs, action plans, supplier commitments, taxonomy alignment rate.
This approach improves the company's credibility and strengthens its attractiveness to investors sensitive to ESG performance.
Why 2025 is a turning point for green finance in Europe
The year 2025 marks a major change of scale for green finance in Europe. Until now perceived as voluntary or progressive frameworks, regulatory requirements are now becoming structural and binding for a growing number of companies.
Two European mechanisms play a central role in this turning point: the European Green Taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The CSRD significantly extends the scope of companies subject to extra-financial reporting obligations. It requires standardised, audited and comparable publication of ESG data, including in particular:
- The proportion of activities, investments and operating costs aligned with the European taxonomy;
- The risks and opportunities linked to climate, environmental and social issues;
- The way in which strategy, governance and operational processes integrate these issues.
In this context, the procurement function becomes a critical support point. A significant proportion of the data required by the CSRD depends directly on suppliers, products and purchased services. Procurement departments are therefore on the front line to:
- Make reliable the ESG data necessary for reporting;
- Demonstrate the alignment of expenditure with taxonomy criteria;
- Secure the company's regulatory compliance.
The European taxonomy, meanwhile, acts as a common framework to qualify what genuinely constitutes a "sustainable" activity. It strengthens transparency requirements and limits greenwashing risks, whilst more clearly directing investment, financing and procurement decisions.
From 2025, companies that have not structured their ESG management — particularly at procurement level — face:
- Regulatory compliance difficulties;
- A loss of credibility with investors and financial partners;
- A reduced ability to access sustainable financing.
Conversely, those that anticipate these developments transform the regulatory constraint into a strategic advantage, making sustainable procurement a key lever of performance, transparency and sustainable value creation.
By directing budgets towards more responsible products, collaborating with committed suppliers and structuring a reliable management method, the procurement function contributes powerfully to the ambitions of green finance. This dynamic enables not only the reduction of impacts on the environment but also the improvement of the company's overall performance.
