Reflecting on the 2024 UK Infrastructure Show

Are you a supplier into a UK government body? Did you know that it’s imperative to have a Net Zero carbon commitment and a plan to get there if you are bidding for government contracts? The UK Social Value Act should also be on your radar - sustainability is more than carbon – as you may need to outline how you are benefiting the community.

Last week, The Rio Club team engaged with representatives from major UK government departments, global supply chain leaders, private sector companies, and infrastructure builders at the Procurement Act Expo/UK Infrastructure & Supply Chain Event. The central theme? Managing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and social value in procurement and operations.

While sustainability legislation has been evolving for years, the team's regular market interactions provide invaluable insights into customer needs, motivations for measuring and reporting sustainability data, and the catalysing role of regulations. In G7 countries, businesses of all sizes are grappling with an influx of sustainability data points that can often feel abstract, cumbersome, or even daunting.

It doesn’t need to be. With thousands of sustainability regulations, frameworks, and standards emerging globally, the UK has been a pioneer in developing many of these data points over the past decade. From carbon to community impact, understanding your business's footprint can be achieved more efficiently than you might think, without consuming entire budgets on outsourced consultancy.

Infrastructure is the key to the sustainable transition. This was our messaging to the hundreds of business present in Birmingham, UK last week. But many of those enterprise, still fit the same mould of being mostly SMEs, and therefore new to the plethora of sustainability subject matters. They themselves know sustainability is more than carbon, but how do they work through what is material?

The true way forward lies in the powerful combination of artificial intelligence and subject matter expertise. While consulting services are valuable, they are inherently limited in their ability to systematically navigate complex government requirements, outline relevant business-specific metrics, and implement actionable sustainability strategies.

At the NEC in Birmingham, The Rio Club team had the privilege of offering free consultations, demonstrating Rio's process for determining materiality and operationalising sustainability. Having worked closely with numerous private and public sector organizations, Rio's product has evolved to meet enterprise-grade needs for sustainability measurement, management, and action planning.

If your business is impacted by the UK's Procurement Policy Note 06/21 or the Social Value Act, contact Rio AI for a complimentary consultation today and navigate the sustainability landscape with confidence.

Rio is an AI-powered sustainability management platform helping global businesses and governmental organisations to understand and improve their environmental and social impact. We believe sustainability is simply a better business model - helping you operate in a more resource efficient, responsible and profitable manner.