Supplier Transformation

Eugenia Ceballos's Story

“Everybody would agree on the WHY, but the real impact happens when one resolves the HOW"
“Sustainability adds purpose to my technical background, together they give me the opportunity to scale up actions that will create value for people and the planet.”

Fostering Change One Partner at a Time

Eugenia is Group Head of Sustainable Procurement and Impact Valuation at Holcim. She brings together her background as a systems engineer and certified supply chain specialist with a deep commitment to sustainability. Driven by a passion for meaningful impact, she has led sustainable procurement initiatives since 2010 and is based in Switzerland.

Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, transforming the construction industry toward a low-carbon future. Its employees are driven by their purpose to build progress for people and the planet across our regions to improve living standards for all.

 

Sector: Building materials

 

Employees: Over 63’000

 

Geography: Headquartered in Switzerland with global operations

 

Website: https://www.holcim.com

Challenges
faced

Eugenia encountered several obstacles on her journey to integrate sustainability into the company’s global supply chain.

 

One of the primary challenges was the fluctuating top-down support for sustainability due to changes in leadership. This variability in management priorities was difficult to navigate and demanded significant energy, as each shift brought new focuses. Keeping sustainability on track amid these fluctuations proved to be no easy feat.

“When your work is business and purpose, your actions will always stay, because they are good for people and the planet, and they also makes business sense”

Another critical challenge involved the differing levels of market and regulatory maturity in ESG implementation, which complicated the deployment of consistent sustainability standards across Holcim’s operations. As a Swiss company, Holcim needed to ensure that all purchased products and services met high ESG standards, even when sourced from regions with less stringent regulatory frameworks. This disparity made establishing uniform sustainability practices across the supply chain especially challenging.

Actions
taken

Eugenia led several initiatives to embed sustainability into Holcim’s procurement practices, with a focus on education and strategic influence.

 

One core action was to align sustainability with Holcim’s business strategy. In 2010, she developed a sustainable procurement program that addressed supply chain challenges as they arose and demonstrated the strategic value of sustainability in two ways: by building a business case that highlighted cost savings and competitive benefits, and by implementing a risk-based approach to prioritize suppliers based on strategic relationships and impact potential.

"We have several examples of solutions involving multi-stakeholders where sustainability and business are blended"
"for example, helping suppliers of transportation services in Latin America decarbonize their fleets by enabling access to more favourable credit lines and extending the benefits of our agreement with the fleet supplier to be adopted by our service supplier using those vehicles"
"We are trying to create a movement like a domino effect, by engaging one supplier at a time, personalizing our strategy to enable adoption by suppliers"
"For example, we train and coach our strategic SME suppliers with our environmental experts"
"Empathy and pragmatism are key to disrupting business as usual and create the changes needed"

Another key action was focused on educating procurement professionals and suppliers on sustainability through tailored training programs on topics like Scope 3 emissions and responsible mining. These programs provided both the “why” and “how” of sustainability, equipping suppliers, especially in less-regulated markets, with practical tools to address ESG impacts.

 

Eugenia leveraged Holcim’s buyer power by setting specific standards for suppliers and supporting them in meeting these standards through education and coaching.

 

Meanwhile, by continually reinforcing the purpose behind each action – whether compliance-driven or purpose-driven – she ensured that suppliers felt supported and connected to the mission.

Resonance
of impact

Through her leadership in sustainable procurement, Eugenia has helped position Holcim as a frontrunner in integrating ESG across its supply chain.

 

Her initiatives have driven measurable results, particularly in reducing CO₂ emissions and supporting a “just transition” for suppliers globally. These efforts have deeply aligned sustainability with Holcim’s core strategy and created a ripple effect across operations, building long-term relationships with suppliers who increasingly view sustainability as essential to their business practices.

"The SBTN pilot exercise we just conducted triggered us to develop a specific water management program for suppliers in water-scarce areas, closing the gap between knowing the right thing to do and actually doing it"
"Keep educating yourself to stay on top of what you want to achieve so you can close the gap between what you want to do and how to do it"

Looking ahead, Eugenia aims to further scale up the adoption of the company’s sustainable procurement programs to reduce CO₂ in their supply chain and lessen the impact on nature through responsible mining programs and sustainable packaging solutions.

 

Inspired by evolving international frameworks like the Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTN), Eugenia envisions using these frameworks to guide actionable steps, such as developing water management programs for suppliers in water-scarce regions.

 

Her advice to others who want to inspire change?

Relevant resources to Eugenia Ceballos's work

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