Summary
Details
- Global
Where the Sustainability Exhibit is included in a supplier agreement, the requirements are contractual.
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What’s Required
Salesforce’s framework is centered on its Sustainability Exhibit, which functions as a contract annex rather than a voluntary supplier guide. The company states publicly that the Exhibit “puts climate action into contracts” and asks suppliers to set science-based targets, increase sustainability disclosures, and deliver carbon-neutral products and services. That phrasing is important because it frames supplier climate performance as a contractual obligation, not a preferred practice.
The Exhibit requires suppliers to set a science-based target and, after doing so, to provide Salesforce with a copy of the plan to achieve that target upon request. Salesforce’s Trailhead guidance further states that suppliers should use good-faith efforts to achieve the science-based target by reducing absolute emissions. Together, these elements create a two-part compliance structure: target adoption plus transition planning. Suppliers are therefore expected not only to announce a target but to maintain a credible implementation path.
A second major requirement is carbon-neutral delivery of products and services during the term of the agreement. The Sustainability Exhibit states that the supplier shall, throughout the term of the agreement, provide the products and or services on a carbon-neutral basis and, upon request, deliver documentation reasonably satisfactory to Salesforce substantiating that claim. This is unusually strong language for a corporate supplier framework because it moves from enterprise-level aspiration to transaction-level performance.
The program also requires greater sustainability disclosure. Salesforce’s public supplier sustainability page and Trailhead materials reference annual disclosure, science-based targets, third-party sustainability scorecards and the Supplier Code of Conduct as part of the expected supplier sustainability architecture. That means the framework extends beyond one contract clause into an ongoing supplier management system that uses reporting and scorecards to assess compliance and progress.
This is especially significant in services and digital economy supply chains, where climate governance has often lagged behind manufacturing. Salesforce’s approach shows how a buyer can turn service provision, software-linked operations, cloud-related procurement, and other non-heavy-industrial categories into climate-governed contractual relationships. The compliance burden falls on data quality, target integrity, neutralization credibility, and the supplier’s ability to substantiate claims through documentation.
Important Deadlines
The Sustainability Exhibit does not publicly state one universal target year within the snippets returned, but it requires suppliers to set a science-based target and maintain carbon-neutral delivery throughout the term of the agreement. Compliance is therefore ongoing from the moment the Exhibit applies to the supplier relationship, with annual disclosure expectations reinforced through Salesforce’s broader supplier sustainability materials.
Current Status
The program is active and publicly presented by Salesforce as part of its supplier sustainability system. The company’s materials show that the Sustainability Exhibit, science-based target expectations, and supplier disclosure mechanisms are operational components of procurement governance.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Salesforce does not publish a regulator-style penalty code, but the Exhibit’s contractual structure means non-compliance can trigger normal contract-governance consequences, such as failure to satisfy customer requirements, corrective action demands, weaker supplier standing, or commercial consequences tied to contractual breach or underperformance. This is an inference from the contract-based design rather than a publicly listed sanction schedule.
Examples of Known Violations
Likely failure modes include setting a target without maintaining an implementation plan, delivering products or services marketed as carbon neutral without satisfactory substantiation, weak or incomplete annual sustainability disclosure and overreliance on low-quality neutralization claims. These examples are grounded in the explicit terms of the Sustainability Exhibit and associated implementation guidance.
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