Local Sourcing assesses how a company prioritises purchasing goods and services from suppliers located in the same geographic region as its operations or final markets - typically defined by distance (e.g., within 250 km) or political boundaries (municipality, state, country). The topic covers:

• policies and targets that promote procurement from local SMEs, cooperatives, minority- or Indigenous-owned businesses, and social enterprises;
• evaluation of economic, social and environmental benefits - shorter transport distances (lower Scope 3 emissions), job creation, community resilience, supply-chain agility;
• supplier-development programmes (technical assistance, preferential payment terms, capacity-building) that enable local vendors to meet quality, safety and sustainability standards;
• mechanisms to balance local preference with cost, quality, and sustainability criteria - life-cycle costing, total-value-of-ownership analyses;
• tracking and disclosure of spend percentages, number of local suppliers contracted, and associated impact metrics, aligned with frameworks such as GRI 204 Procurement Practices, GRI 308/414 Supplier Assessments, EU ESRS S3 Affected Communities, and SDG 8 & 12.