Retailers Face Growing Pressure to Verify Logistics Partners' Scope 3 Credentials
Retailers are under growing pressure to demonstrate measurable progress on Scope 3 emissions, and that pressure is increasingly influencing how they select and manage logistics partners.
For many retailers, the vast majority of emissions sit outside their direct operations and within their wider supply chains.
According to retail technology provider OneStock, up to 98% of a retailer's total emissions can occur outside its direct operations as Scope 3 emissions. This aligns with research from by BCG and CDP which found that supply chain Scope 3 emissions are, on average, 26 times greater than companies' direct operational emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), highlighting the importance of supplier and logistics emissions within corporate decarbonisation efforts.
As retailers work towards Net Zero commitments and face growing scrutiny from investors, regulators and consumers, emissions generated across transportation, warehousing and delivery networks have become an increasingly important part of the sustainability conversation.
According to a major shipping line retail sustainability analysis, decarbonisation of supply chains is now a critical step in enabling retail success, with logistics emissions playing a central role in helping organisations meet climate targets and manage Scope 3 exposure.
For retailers, logistics networks therefore represent one of the most material areas of focus in the transition to lower-carbon supply chains.
BCG and CDP research found that only 15% of corporates have established a Scope 3 emissions target, despite supply chain emissions typically representing the largest share of corporate footprints. For retail procurement teams, this creates a practical challenge: distinguishing between sustainability claims and independently verified performance at supplier level.
"Retailers are caught in a tough position," says Paul Lockwood, Managing Director, SEKO Logistics UK & Ireland. "They are facing intense regulatory and consumer pressure to decarbonise, yet in many cases are they lack verified supplier data.
Aspirational 'green promises' simply don’t hold up when you’re reporting to investors or regulators.
Procurement teams don't just need partners who talk about sustainability; they need ironclad, auditable facts to prove it."
Verification is becoming the differentiator
For logistics providers, the shift is no longer simply about setting long-term sustainability targets but about demonstrating measurable progress supported by data and independent verification.
SEKO Logistics UK & Ireland has established emissions reduction targets of 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, supported by a completed baseline carbon footprint assessment.
The business has also achieved EcoVadis Gold status, placing it among the highest-performing companies assessed globally.
Beyond target-setting, importantly, SEKO is working with its supplier base to improve emissions measurement, reporting capability and operational performance across the wider logistics ecosystem. This reflects a broader industry challenge: Scope 3 performance is ultimately dependent on the quality and consistency of upstream data.
What this means for retailers
As sustainability criteria become embedded in procurement processes, logistics partners are increasingly being assessed not only on cost and service performance, but also on their ability to provide credible, verifiable emissions data.
For retailers operating under Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) commitments or broader Net Zero reporting obligations, supplier-level emissions data is becoming an essential input into external disclosures, investor reporting and regulatory compliance.
The gap between sustainability ambition and measurable execution continues to widen. In this context, logistics providers that can demonstrate independently verified performance and transparent emissions reporting are becoming more relevant to retail procurement decisions than those relying on aspirational commitments alone.
Lockwood concludes: "The era of the 'paper promise' in logistics is over. Retailers don't just want a partner with a distant Net Zero badge; they need accurate emissions data right now to protect their own climate targets. At SEKO, achieving EcoVadis Gold isn't just a badge of honour for us it’s about giving our retail clients the transparent, transaction-level data they need to de-risk their supply chains and make confident commercial decisions."
