The six pillars of Thales' Sustainable Procurement policy

A responsible member of society

Thales believes that trust-based relationships with suppliers is essential to its success and underpins its long-term growth and development.

Thales expects its suppliers to comply fully with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries where there are registered, operate or deliver services, and to require the same of their own partners and subcontractors.

The Integrity and Corporate Responsibility Charter that Thales issues to its suppliers provides a common core of best practices with respect to the key principles of corporate responsibility: human rights, fair labour practices, prevention of corruption and conflicts of interest, data protection, the environment, health and safety, ethics, etc.

To improve risk management related to its supply chain, the Group has adopted specific due diligence tools to assess the ability of individual suppliers to apply these principles and practices.

Suppliers' commitment to these principles of corporate responsibility is a key factor in their long-term relationship with Thales; non-compliance or a failure to commit to them may result in exclusion.

In June 2023 Thales joined the global aerospace and defence industry supply chain assessment program proposed by the IAEG (International Aerospace Environmental Group) powered by EcoVadis. In case of low maturity level, Thales set-up and monitor actions plans to increase Supplier maturity. If required, ESG on-site Audit are carried out by a specialized auditing independent company. We require all our suppliers and subcontractors – wherever they are in the world – to adhere to our CSR principles. By signing our Integrity and Corporate Responsibility Charter, our partners pledge to abide by Thales’s Code of Ethics, to uphold the principles of the United Nations Global Compact and to comply with OECD guidelines.

Quality relationships

Thales establishes cooperative relationships with its partners based on mutual good faith.

Acting in good faith towards suppliers is an integral part of the procurement process and calls for: ​

• Transparency concerning the rules by which suppliers are selected​
• Fair treatment of each company throughout the decision-making process​
• The development of balanced relationship based on trust and respect​
• A commitment to apply the terms negotiated
• A guarantee of neutrality and independence throughout the duration of Thales's relationships with suppliers.​

These principles are particularly important in light of the Group's Procurement policy, which involves developing sustainable, efficient relationships with buyers to guarantee the competitiveness of Thales's solutions in the long term.​

Finally, to ensure the quality of its relationships with its suppliers, Thales has appointed a mediator whom any supplier may contact in the event of a dispute.​

Thales’s procurement policy is also based on 10 sustainable practices set out in the Charter for Responsible Supplier Relations, which we signed in 2010.

Promoting innovation

Procurement plays a key role in further enhancing Thales’s potential for innovation by harnessing the expertise of its ecosystem of suppliers.

Underpinning Thales’s relationships and interactions with its suppliers should be a clear understanding of all relevant technology roadmaps – which is why we hold regular information-sharing sessions on these topics with our strategic suppliers.​

Thales has also modified its procurement process to facilitate access to start-ups, and we organize regular interactions between the Procurement and Technical Departments about the young innovative companies working with us.​

We also form partnerships with incubators and accelerators to support the growth of high potential start ups such as Starburst Aerospace and AI@Centech.​

Finally, with its suppliers, Thales implements programs to recover used or reformed equipment. Their components are used to repair other devices while critical metals are recycled. We also make donations to institutions, universities or associations.​

Climate change

Thales is committed to addressing the significant challenge of climate change through its activities and services, particularly via its "low-carbon future" strategy aligned with the 2°C objective of the Paris Agreement.

The Group is focused on two main objectives for 2030: achieving reductions in its own CO2 emissions (-50.4% in operational CO2 emissions), while also fostering the design and development of innovative, environmentally responsible solutions to minimize its carbon footprint and those of its customers (-15% supply chain and use of Thales’s products).​

A critical part of this initiative lies in Procurement, where Thales has pledged to comprehensively assess the carbon footprint of its highest-emission suppliers to create action plans aimed at reduction. 

Additionally, by developing cross-functional initiatives with HSE, Product Policy and Engineering, Thales seeks to collaborate with its suppliers to promote the development of eco-designed products or those that exhibit a lower environmental impact across their entire life cycle.​

Think globally and act locally

Thales’s customers operate in increasingly complex environments and have global footprints, so it’s important for us to fully understand their business challenges, strategic objectives and operating needs. We’re rolling out global strategies – including in procurement – in order to meet their expectations.​

We are, however, mindful of our role as a major employer and customer in some parts of the world – which is why we pay close attention to public- and private-sector organisations in every place where we do business.​

The Procurement Department is taking targeted action to support SMEs at both regional and national levels, as well as working to help SMEs grow internationally and benefit from Thales’s commercial strength and its knowledge of local markets and contexts.​

These actions are fully in line with Thales’s regional policy, its commitment to the SME Pact association (Pacte PME), of which it has been a member since 2010, and the SME Agreement (PEPS) signed with the French Ministry for the Armed Forces in 2024. The primary aims of this agreement are to improve SMEs’ access to information, to increase experimentation, to continue partnerships developed in the upstream study phase, to support exports and to promote start ups.

Solidarity and progress

In France, Entreprises Adaptées (EA) and Etablissements et Services d’Aide par le Travail (ESAT) are third-sector organisations that play a key role by promoting workplace inclusion for people with disabilities. Thales has worked with members of these organisations for many years, particularly in the areas of industrial subcontracting and general procurement.​

Through our Sustainable Procurement commitments, we aim to increase our reliance on companies and establishments that employ people with disabilities, particularly by expanding our working relationships to other segments and procurement categories. This ambition is in line with the Group’s Disability Agreements and is the subject of regular discussions with the Human Resources Department.​

An initiative was launched in early 2020, in cooperation with the Hozmoz network, to expand the use of EAs and ESATs to the electronics, engineering and mechanical industrial procurement segments. Hozmoz analysed industrial services purchasing for these segments, and project launches will continue in 2025 under the partnership agreement.