About This Course
Across industries and geographies, organisations are under mounting pressure from regulators, investors, customers, and civil society to demonstrate that their supply chains are free from exploitation, environmental harm, and unethical practice. Legislation such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, the UK Modern Slavery Act, and the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act have elevated ethical sourcing from a reputational aspiration to a legal obligation. Simultaneously, the global push toward net-zero emissions and circular economy principles is reshaping how leading organisations design, manage, and audit their procurement activities.
The Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability in Supply Chain Training course, delivered by TrainingComplex, is a focused, practitioner-oriented programme that translates these imperatives into concrete action. Over five intensive days, participants gain a thorough grounding in the international standards and reporting frameworks that govern responsible procurement — from ISO 20400 and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). They learn how to conduct supplier risk assessments, design and implement supplier codes of conduct, and build transparency from tier-one through to deep-tier suppliers.
Beyond compliance, the course challenges participants to see sustainability as a source of competitive advantage — reducing input costs through resource efficiency, strengthening supplier relationships through fair partnership models, and building supply chain resilience by diversifying away from high-risk sourcing regions. Practical workshops guide participants through carbon footprint mapping, social audit methodologies, green procurement policy drafting, and stakeholder engagement strategies, ensuring that learning is directly transferable to participants' own organisational contexts.
Whether you are a procurement manager seeking to formalise your organisation's responsible sourcing policy, a sustainability officer tasked with extending ESG commitments into the supply base, or a supply chain analyst building the data systems needed to track ethical performance, this course will give you the competence and confidence to drive meaningful, lasting change.
Who Should Attend
- Procurement and Purchasing Managers responsible for supplier selection and contract management
- Supply Chain Managers and Directors overseeing end-to-end value chain operations
- Sustainability and ESG Officers extending corporate commitments into the supply base
- Compliance and Risk Officers managing supplier due diligence and regulatory exposure
- Operations Managers with oversight of sourcing, logistics, and vendor performance
- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practitioners engaged in supply chain reporting
- Government and Public Sector Procurement Officers responsible for responsible public spending
- NGO and Development Sector Professionals working on supply chain transparency programmes
- Auditors and Quality Assurance Professionals conducting social and environmental supplier audits
- Entrepreneurs and Business Owners seeking to build ethical sourcing practices from the ground up
Learning Objectives
- Explain the legal, regulatory, and stakeholder drivers making ethical sourcing and supply chain sustainability a strategic priority for modern organisations
- Apply internationally recognised frameworks — including ISO 20400, UN Guiding Principles, GRI Supply Chain Standards, and Science Based Targets — to organisational sourcing practice
- Conduct a comprehensive supplier risk assessment that identifies human rights, labour, environmental, and corruption risks across multiple supply chain tiers
- Design and implement a robust supplier code of conduct and responsible sourcing policy aligned with industry best practice
- Develop and execute supplier due diligence processes, including social audits, corrective action plans, and continuous improvement programmes
- Map and measure the environmental footprint of supply chain activities, including carbon emissions, water use, waste generation, and biodiversity impacts
- Integrate circular economy principles — including product design, material recovery, and closed-loop logistics — into sourcing and procurement strategy
- Build supplier capacity through collaborative training, incentive structures, and long-term partnership models that drive shared sustainability outcomes
- Construct a supply chain transparency framework using digital tools, traceability technology, and data reporting mechanisms
- Prepare and communicate ethical sourcing and sustainability performance reports for internal leadership, investors, regulators, and external stakeholders
Course Modules
Module 1: The Business Case for Ethical Sourcing and Supply Chain Sustainability
- Defining ethical sourcing, responsible procurement, and supply chain sustainability in a modern business context
- Regulatory landscape: EU CSDDD, UK Modern Slavery Act, US UFLPA, and African supply chain legislation
- Stakeholder expectations: investor ESG criteria, customer demands, civil society pressure, and employee values
- Linking ethical supply chain performance to brand value, financial resilience, and long-term competitive advantage
- Quantifying the cost of inaction: reputational damage case studies, regulatory fines, and supply chain disruption losses
- Building internal alignment: securing board-level commitment, cross-functional ownership, and budget allocation for ethical sourcing programmes
Module 2: International Frameworks and Standards for Responsible Sourcing
- ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement: structure, principles, and implementation pathway
- UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the due diligence obligation
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Supply Chain Standards and mandatory disclosure requirements
- Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and net-zero supply chain commitments
- OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct: sector-specific annexes and practical application to sourcing decisions
- Navigating overlapping frameworks: how to rationalise multiple standards into a coherent and audit-ready compliance architecture
Module 3: Human Rights and Labour Standards in the Supply Chain
- Core ILO labour conventions and their application to supplier selection and monitoring
- Forced labour, child labour, and modern slavery: identification, risk indicators, and response protocols
- Worker voice mechanisms: grievance channels, supplier worker surveys, and third-party hotlines
- Remediation strategies: corrective action plans, supplier improvement support, and disengagement decisions
- Fair wage principles and working-time compliance: benchmarking supplier pay practices against living wage indices and legal minimums
- Gender equity and vulnerable worker protections: addressing discrimination, pregnancy-related risks, and migrant worker vulnerabilities in high-risk supply chains
Module 4: Supplier Risk Assessment and Prioritisation
- Building a risk taxonomy covering human rights, environmental, geopolitical, and corruption dimensions
- Data sources for supplier risk profiling: country indices, commodity risk databases, and NGO intelligence
- Risk scoring models and heat-mapping techniques for multi-tier supply chain prioritisation
- Integrating risk assessment findings into sourcing strategy, contract terms, and supplier selection criteria
- Dynamic risk monitoring: triggering reassessment based on political events, commodity price shocks, and media or NGO alerts
- Tier-two and beyond: methods for extending risk visibility into sub-suppliers when direct contractual relationships do not exist
Module 5: Supplier Due Diligence and Social Auditing
- Designing a supplier due diligence programme: scope, frequency, and escalation protocols
- Social audit methodologies: announced vs. unannounced audits, audit fatigue, and audit integrity challenges
- Conducting effective supplier site assessments: interview techniques, document review, and physical observation
- Analysing audit findings, issuing non-conformance reports, and managing corrective action follow-up
- Third-party audit scheme selection and credibility assessment: evaluating SMETA, SA8000, and WRAP against programme objectives
- Leveraging shared audit platforms and industry coalitions to reduce duplication, lower supplier burden, and improve data quality
Module 6: Developing a Supplier Code of Conduct and Responsible Sourcing Policy
- Key elements of an effective supplier code of conduct: labour, environment, ethics, and governance clauses
- Aligning the code with sector-specific standards: electronics, apparel, food and agriculture, and extractives
- Embedding the code into procurement contracts, onboarding processes, and supplier performance reviews
- Policy governance: ownership, communication, training obligations, and periodic review cycles
- Cascading obligations: requiring first-tier suppliers to flow down code requirements to their own sub-suppliers and subcontractors
- Handling code violations: escalation pathways, proportionate consequences, and maintaining supplier relationships during remediation
Module 7: Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Management in Sourcing
- Understanding Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and the significance of supply chain Scope 3 categories
- Carbon footprint mapping by spend category: methodology, data collection challenges, and estimation approaches
- Setting supplier-specific emissions reduction targets and tracking progress through KPIs and reporting
- Climate risk in sourcing: physical and transition risks, supplier vulnerability assessment, and adaptation strategies
- Engaging suppliers on decarbonisation: communicating expectations, providing tools, and co-developing roadmaps with high-emission strategic suppliers
- Evaluating low-carbon sourcing alternatives: near-shoring trade-offs, renewable energy procurement criteria, and sustainable material substitution
Module 8: Circular Economy Principles in Procurement and Supply Chain Design
- Circular economy fundamentals: eliminate waste, circulate products, and regenerate natural systems
- Green product design, material specifications, and eco-labelling criteria in supplier requirements
- Closed-loop supply chains: reverse logistics, take-back schemes, and material recovery partnerships
- Measuring circular economy performance: circularity metrics, waste diversion rates, and lifecycle assessment
- Procurement levers for circularity: integrating recycled content thresholds, durability standards, and repairability requirements into supplier contracts
- Cross-sector collaboration and industrial symbiosis: identifying opportunities to redirect waste streams from one supply chain as inputs for another
Module 9: Supplier Capacity Building and Collaborative Sustainability Partnerships
- Diagnosing supplier sustainability capability gaps through self-assessment questionnaires and audit data
- Designing training, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing programmes for strategic suppliers
- Incentive structures: sustainability-linked payment terms, preferred supplier status, and joint investment models
- Building long-term supplier partnerships anchored in shared sustainability goals and transparent performance dialogue
- Segmenting the supplier base for capacity building: prioritising investment based on spend, risk exposure, and strategic importance
- Measuring the effectiveness of capacity building interventions: before-and-after audit scores, KPI trajectories, and supplier self-reported outcomes
Module 10: Supply Chain Transparency, Technology, and Sustainability Reporting
- Supply chain mapping methodologies: from tier-one to deep-tier supplier visibility
- Digital traceability tools: blockchain applications, QR-code audit trails, and supplier information portals
- Constructing an ethical sourcing performance dashboard: key metrics, data sources, and reporting cadence
- Communicating sustainability outcomes: investor ESG briefs, public sustainability reports, and regulatory disclosures
- Data governance for supply chain transparency: managing supplier data consent, confidentiality obligations, and platform interoperability
- Addressing greenwashing risk: applying accuracy checks, third-party assurance, and proportionate claim boundaries to public sustainability communications
Requirements & Prerequisites
Participants should have at least two years of professional experience in procurement, supply chain management, operations, sustainability, compliance, or a closely related field. A basic familiarity with supplier management processes or corporate governance concepts will be helpful in following the more applied workshop sessions. No prior formal training in ethical sourcing or sustainability is required, as the course is designed to build from foundational concepts through to advanced implementation practice.
Training Methodology
- Supplier risk mapping workshops in which participants analyse real-world supply chains to identify human rights, environmental, and corruption hotspots across multiple tiers
- Case study analysis of high-profile ethical sourcing failures — including electronics, garment, and agricultural supply chains — drawing lessons on where due diligence broke down and how organisations recovered
- Small-group policy drafting sessions producing a supplier code of conduct and responsible sourcing policy tailored to participants' own industry contexts
- Supplier social audit simulation in which participants role-play as auditors conducting a structured on-site assessment, followed by a corrective action planning exercise
- Carbon footprint mapping exercise using actual spend category data to calculate Scope 3 emissions and prioritise high-impact reduction interventions
- Interactive framework comparison activity in which participant teams evaluate ISO 20400, GRI Supply Chain Standards, and UN Guiding Principles against their organisational needs and recommend an implementation roadmap
- Stakeholder communication workshop focused on drafting ethical sourcing narratives for investor briefs, annual reports, and supplier engagement letters
- Peer learning circles where participants from different sectors share approaches to supplier capacity building, sustainable procurement metrics, and supply chain transparency tools
- Digital traceability demonstration session introducing blockchain, QR-code audit trails, and supplier portal technologies with a hands-on configuration exercise
- Individual action planning exercise in which each participant commits to three concrete improvement actions for their own organisation, supported by a structured implementation template
Organisational Benefits
- Reduced legal and reputational risk through systematic identification and mitigation of human rights and environmental violations in the supply base
- Strengthened compliance posture against evolving legislation on modern slavery, forced labour, deforestation, and corporate due diligence
- Improved ESG ratings and investor confidence through demonstrable supply chain transparency and sustainability performance
- Cost savings achieved through resource efficiency measures, waste reduction, and leaner, more resilient sourcing strategies
- Enhanced supplier relationships built on shared values, fair partnership terms, and mutual capacity-building investments
- Greater supply chain resilience through diversification away from high-risk suppliers, regions, and materials
- Access to new markets and tenders that require suppliers to demonstrate ethical sourcing and sustainability credentials
- Improved employee engagement and talent attraction among professionals who prioritise working for purpose-driven, responsible organisations
- Readiness for mandatory sustainability disclosure requirements emerging across major trading jurisdictions
- A culture of continuous improvement in procurement and supply chain operations, anchored in ethical principles and long-term value creation
Where Is Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability in Supply Chain Training Offered?
This course runs in-person across: Accra, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Kisumu, Arusha, Zanzibar, Dubai, Nakuru, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Abuja, Naivasha, Johannesburg, Kigali, Riyadh, Pretoria, Lagos, Cape Town, plus Live Virtual (online) cohorts. Browse live dates for your city below.
Upcoming Schedules
| Location | Format | Dates | Price |
|---|
| Accra, Ghana |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
USD 3,800 |
| Mombasa, Kenya |
In-Person |
5 Oct 2026 – 9 Oct 2026 |
KES 115,000 |
| Dar es Salaam, Tanzania |
In-Person |
12 Oct 2026 – 16 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,300 |
| Live Virtual |
Online |
17 Oct 2026 – 8 Nov 2026 |
KES 80,000 |
| Kampala, Uganda |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 1,900 |
| Live Virtual |
Online |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 80,000 |
| Kisumu, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 120,000 |
| Arusha, Tanzania |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,100 |
| Zanzibar, Tanzania |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,500 |
| Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 4,100 |
| Nakuru, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 115,000 |
| Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,400 |
| Nairobi, Kenya |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
KES 115,000 |
| Abuja, Nigeria |
In-Person |
19 Oct 2026 – 23 Oct 2026 |
USD 2,800 |
| Naivasha, Kenya |
In-Person |
26 Oct 2026 – 30 Oct 2026 |
KES 120,000 |
+237 more dates — view live schedule →
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a formal procurement or sustainability qualification to attend this course?
No formal qualification is required. The course is designed for practitioners with relevant work experience in procurement, supply chain, operations, compliance, or sustainability. A basic familiarity with supplier management will help you get the most from the applied workshop sessions.
Will I receive a certificate upon completing the course?
Yes. Participants who attend all five days and complete the practical exercises will receive a Certificate of Completion in Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability in Supply Chain Training, issued by TrainingComplex. This certificate can be used to support CPD portfolios and professional development records.
Is this course relevant to both private sector and public sector procurement professionals?
Absolutely. The course content is designed to serve both private sector supply chain practitioners and public sector procurement officers. Government and NGO delegates will find dedicated coverage of responsible public procurement principles, transparency obligations, and supplier due diligence requirements relevant to their mandates.
How practical is the course — will there be hands-on exercises or is it mostly theory?
The course is heavily applied. Approximately 60% of contact time is devoted to practical workshops, simulations, and group exercises — including supplier risk mapping, social audit role plays, carbon footprint calculations, and policy drafting sessions. Theory is introduced to provide context and frameworks, but the emphasis throughout is on skills you can use immediately.
Can organisations send multiple delegates from the same team, and is group pricing available?
Yes, organisations are encouraged to send teams, as cohort learning accelerates internal alignment on ethical sourcing policy and practice. TrainingComplex offers group pricing for three or more delegates from the same organisation — please contact our training advisors directly to discuss a tailored group booking.
