For 12 years, at 2degrees, we’ve pioneered new ways to spread sustainable practices across manufacturing supply chains around the world. We partnered with some amazing brands like Tesco, GSK, Asda-Walmart, Coop and Unilever and worked with thousands of their manufacturing suppliers, right down at the plant level, reducing environmental impacts.

Not everything we tried worked, but a lot did. And we made it our mission to learn even more.

Four years ago we brought all the best bits together and launched Manufacture 2030 with the sole purpose of accelerating carbon reduction at scale across manufacturing supply chains.

What did we learn?

That engineers like to help solve each other’s problems (even if they are from different companies); that major brands want to collaborate to address climate change; that suppliers want to be their customer’s solution not the problem.

And we learnt how to build the right technology and service that could harness all this positivity, align everyone’s interests and accelerate change on a massive scale.

Above all, we learnt that if you want to drive real change across a supply chain, to be certain of hitting your carbon target, you need to be able to operate both at an individual supplier site level and at scale.

You need to measure in detail a site’s base line, have clear forward visibility to manage towards the target and be able to drive improvement by building capacity, focused specifically on closing the identified gap.

And you need to do that hundreds and thousands of times over, simultaneously.

And what about suppliers?

We’ve learnt that if you show them why you are serious about your reduction targets; if you collaborate and work as an industry to avoid unnecessary duplication; if you let them keep the financial savings they will make; recognise and reward them for their progress; and encourage them to share knowledge and help each other.

Then the clear majority will willingly come on the journey with you. And you will succeed.

Some facts about Manufacture 2030

We are a mission-driven, for profit, private company called 2degrees Ltd that trades under the brand of Manufacture 2030. Our HQ is in the university town of Oxford in the United Kingdom and we are growing fast; with colleagues in the UK, continental Europe, and the US. Our platform and support services are helping suppliers in 50 countries worldwide, operating in 14 languages from Japanese and Mandarin to Spanish and German. We are a culturally diverse and energetic team, passionately committed to helping our clients and their suppliers achieve their carbon reduction commitments.