Accelerating Purpose: Coupa’s 2023 Report on ESG, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The power of the Coupa community to unlock purpose is realized each day as we work together to reduce our collective carbon footprint, allocate our spend to diverse suppliers, and get ahead of regulations across the globe. At Coupa, we see a global community of companies and leaders, united to make every business dollar spent more effective, equitable, and sustainable. We are encouraged as more and more of our customers, partners, suppliers, and employees prioritize Environmental, Social, and Governance issues. And we’re delivering real impact for our stakeholders — we couldn’t be more proud to share our results in our 2023 ESG Report.

In 2022 we unlocked purpose with our strategic focus on Planet, People and Community, Platform Innovation, and Principles and Ethics.

ESG highlights

Committing to net zero emissions by 2040

Protecting our planet is non-negotiable. That’s why Coupa launched a climate strategy to highlight our environmental commitment. Our climate strategy focuses on measurable factors that lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, more efficient energy uses, more renewable energy strategies, and more. To achieve those goals, first, we needed to set targets and be able to track progress. We established climate targets including net zero emissions by 2040 using the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) criteria. We are supporting environmental justice by creating strategic partnerships with environmental organizations and selecting carbon offset projects that directly support climate justice initiatives.

Reducing environmental footprints: Our Business Spend Management (BSM) platform’s role

By weaving ESG data into their spend processes, Coupa customers can more effectively support their sustainability goals while saving money. We’re already seeing more customers integrate ESG into their business strategy. They’ve made net zero climate commitments, increased supplier diversity, and prioritized resiliency in their supply chains.

We built more than 100 Sustainable BSM capabilities into our platform to enable our customers to unlock their purpose. We recently launched a Scope 3 Travel Emissions Insights Dashboard in our Coupa Travel product, providing our customers with insight into the carbon emissions associated with their organization’s business travel. Customers can utilize these features to make more informed decisions on sustainable transportation options. Our customers are utilizing our platform to conduct third-party risk assessments, helping them as they face increasing legislative pressure with global regulations like the German Supply Chain Act.

We’re helping customers implement procurement and supply chain processes that direct their spend to certified diverse suppliers, such as women- and minority-owned businesses, while accessing community data to measure and categorize a diverse supplier database.

Ensuring clean air for all 

Every year, air pollution causes over ten million deaths globally, disproportionately impacting low-income and marginalized communities, especially the very young and the elderly. We saw an opportunity to address this vital issue at the intersection of climate and public health.

The Equal Air Project is a company-wide initiative to improve air quality across our communities, with a primary focus on underserved communities. Working with Earth Watch, the Yale School of Public Health, and Sustainable Silicon Valley, Coupa volunteers swung into action placing air sensors across the San Francisco peninsula to test and monitor air quality. After two months of monitoring and analyzing, the results revealed how the quality of air we breathe differs dramatically by zip code. And we had to take action. Employees around the world engaged in education and pro bono services — including our entire executive team and our board of directors. We are engaged in more action in 2023, with communities globally, and look forward to sharing more of our impact.

Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

We know that DEI and a sense of belonging is vital to maintain a healthy company culture, attract the best talent, and support our communities. DEI is not only a moral imperative, it’s also a financial imperative. According to research conducted by McKinsey and Company, companies with a diverse workforce are more likely to experience above-average profitability than peer companies.

Here are some ways we’re working to truly integrate DEI into our core business and ESG strategies:

• In 2022, we launched our DEI strategy to enrich the lives of our employees, attract new talent, contribute to communities, and strengthen our business performance.
• Growing Employee Resource Groups: Our Employee Resource Groups play a critical role in creating a supportive and informed work environment. We recently welcomed the newest group, Coupa Exceed, to give Asian and Pacific Islander (API) employees, the API community, and allies the resources and support to reach their fullest potential.
• Supporting career advancement: Through our new partnership with the McKinsey Black, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian Leadership Academies, we support career advancement for our employees from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds. The program provides opportunities to build leadership capabilities and network with distinguished executives to assist them in reaching the next big step in their careers. Participants have rated the program highly and report transformative experiences. Steve Taylor Jr., Sr. Director, Customer Adoption Management stated the following about the program:

"Without a doubt, it was an incredible experience. The program provided valuable, insightful, and relevant leadership instruction that brought essential exposure and information to succeed as a Black executive in today's corporate world.”

Our first-ever Global Impact Week

In 2022, Coupa employees around the world celebrated our first-ever Global Impact Week: a week filled with opportunities to serve communities through volunteerism, giving, and open hearts and minds. Our executive leadership team and board of directors set the tone by volunteering and developing strategies to mitigate air pollution with our Equal Air Project partners. To emphasize Coupa’s philosophy that we are stronger together, we encouraged our customers to join us during the week.

Our passionate Coupa volunteer leads hosted 73 events, where 550 employees volunteered more than 2,650 hours and supported 240 nonprofits.

We’re looking forward to working with our community to make the world a better place as we continue to accelerate performance and unlock purpose.

Making the world a more equitable and sustainable place takes vision, partnership, and tenacity. And we can get closer to net zero faster when we work together.

Interested in establishing climate strategies and building resilient, diverse, sustainable organizations? Join us on this journey and let’s accelerate a path toward equity and sustainability together.