Local procurement
$13.7 BILLIONSpend in lower-income countries
Where it makes overall business sense, we buy goods and services from local suppliers and help support local businesses and skills development. In 2014, we spent more than $67.1 billion on goods and services worldwide. Around 61% of this was spent in Canada, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the UK and the USA. We estimate around $13.7 billion was spent in countries that have a gross domestic product of less than $15,000 a year per person, according to the UNDP Human Development Index 2013. In these countries, Shell companies spent more than 69% ($9.5 billion) with local companies.
We check that our suppliers are complying with key sustainability criteria, including good working conditions. In 2014, we conducted 92 rigorous assessments of suppliers in Africa and the Middle East, 132 in the Americas, 394 in the Asia-Pacific region, and 456 in Europe to check compliance against our Supplier Principles. These principles include areas such as human rights, labour practices such as the prohibition of child and forced labour, and business integrity.
External voluntary codes
The Shell General Business Principles and Code of Conduct guide the business activities of Shell companies. We also support a number of external voluntary codes. These include the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Global Compact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
