Setting clear supplier requirements to reduce emissions

The Swedish publishing house realised early that meaningful reductions had to start outside its own walls - and built one of the most systematic Scope 3 programmes in the sector.

Between 80 and 90 percent of Natur & Kultur's emissions sit outside the organisation, mostly in book production with external printing partners. That made one thing obvious early on: meaningful reductions would never come from office measures alone - they had to come from the supply chain.

Over the past decade the publisher has steadily tightened climate requirements, improved data quality and embedded climate considerations into every production decision. Together with Atmoz, it has built a systematic approach to measure, reduce and take responsibility for emissions across the value chain.

A long-term effort to influence the supply chain

The climate journey began in earnest in 2015, when Natur & Kultur expanded FSC-certified paper from a slice of the catalogue to nearly all book production. In parallel, it started collecting detailed information on paper, production and transport to understand impacts across the chain.

Climate requirements get tighter every procurement cycle

Printing services are procured through Printpool on two-year cycles. Every round introduces new requirements and questions designed to increase transparency and pull suppliers forward. Today suppliers are assessed on:

• Share of renewable electricity used in production
• Self-generated renewable energy
• Environmental and sustainability certifications
• Origin and climate impact of paper
• Transport arrangements and distances
• Ability to provide detailed emissions data

From generic assumptions to actual emissions data

Working with Atmoz, Natur & Kultur and Printpool have spent years refining the carbon accounting methodology behind book production. A milestone came in 2019, when generic paper emission factors were replaced with data from the specific mills supplying paper to production - a major accuracy jump for a business where paper drives a large share of impact.

Climate data inside every production decision

In 2022 the team integrated template-based climate calculations directly into the production management system. When planning a new title, publishers now see how impact changes before production begins, based on printing partner, paper weight, format, page count and print run - using emission factors unique to each facility.

Next step: order-level emissions data

From 2026, every contracted printer will report emissions data for each individual order rather than annual summaries. Natur & Kultur introduced an administrative compensation model to support the work, and all suppliers are participating. Changes become visible immediately - choosing a lower-emission paper grade shows up in the system at once, and suppliers that improve are rewarded directly through future production decisions.

Science-based targets and responsibility for what remains

To keep the strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement, Natur & Kultur has adopted SBTi targets. Together with Atmoz it has moved from hybrid to electric vehicles, installed solar panels on company-owned property and steadily raised supplier requirements. For residual emissions, it uses a portfolio of carbon credits built with Atmoz that combines avoidance projects with high-integrity forest conservation, including the Swedish Boreal Mix project.

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