2025 was meant to mark a turning point for sustainable supply chains. For years, companies have circled this date on their calendars, setting ambitious pledges to transform packaging, sourcing, and energy use. The vision was bold: by mid-decade, procurement would be at the forefront of the climate fight. Yet as the deadline arrives, the story is mixed. Some companies are holding firm on their commitments, whether it’s transforming packaging to come from renewable, recycled, or certified sources by the end of this year, or aiming to achieve 100% renewable energy consumption in 2025.
Meanwhile others are quietly scaling them back in response to market pressures, growth demands, and shifting priorities, such as lessening a goal of reducing emissions by 2030.
Here’s where corporate sustainability goals stand today—what’s been achieved, what’s been delayed, and what these course corrections mean as businesses look ahead to the even steeper 2030 climate targets. The central question: can supply chains rise to the challenge, or will ambition continue to collide with reality?
Procuring sustainability
Sustainability goals are only as strong as the procurement teams working to deliver them. From sourcing eco-friendly materials to ensuring supplier practices align with ethical and environmental standards, procurement is the engine that turns corporate commitments into measurable progress.
Procurement leaders are uniquely positioned to influence both environmental and social outcomes. By shaping supplier partnerships across global markets, such as India, Vietnam, Mexico, and China, they can ensure ethical labor practices, strengthen local economies, and foster innovation that drives long-term resilience. Done well, these partnerships not only advance ethical practices but also strengthen supply chain resilience.
Procurement also plays a critical role in product and packaging design. By collaborating with product teams to simplify and standardize, procurement can dramatically cut waste and inefficiency. Instead of producing custom packaging for every SKU, forward-thinking organizations are moving to standardized formats and postponing customization until the final production stage. This reduces material use, lowers costs, and streamlines logistics.
At the highest level, procurement strategy can unlock dual value: advancing corporate sustainability commitments while also delivering cost efficiencies and operational excellence. Supplier consolidation, bulk purchasing, and harmonized standards reduce complexity and emissions while enhancing financial performance. In today’s climate-conscious economy, procurement is defining how sustainability goals are achieved.
Accurately measuring supply chain sustainability
Sustainability in supply chains is a networked responsibility. A company’s progress is inherently tied to that of its suppliers, which is why supplier performance either amplifies or limits corporate sustainability outcomes.
This is especially true when it comes to emissions. For most organizations, Scope 3 emissions (those generated upstream by suppliers and downstream by partners) account for approximately 90 percent5 of the total footprint. Managing these emissions requires deep collaboration, and procurement is on the front line. As the function closest to suppliers, procurement professionals are best positioned to influence, measure, and improve sustainability performance across the value chain.
But accurate measurement remains one of the greatest challenges. Too often, companies rely on voluntary supplier reporting, which varies in quality and can be difficult to validate, especially across second- and third-tier suppliers. To move beyond pledges and into accountability, companies must adopt more rigorous supplier audit processes, leverage digital tools for traceability, and establish strong governance around sustainability data.
Yet technology and audits alone are not enough. True transparency requires a cultural shift, where direct suppliers are not only measured but also incentivized to extend the same scrutiny and standards across their own networks. This cascading accountability is only possible when procurement builds trusted, strategic relationships that encourage suppliers at every tier to contribute to the shared sustainability agenda.
At its core, measuring sustainability is about building resilient, verifiable systems of trust across the supply chain. And procurement is the function uniquely equipped to make that happen.
Don’t sweat the spotlight
As procurement becomes central to corporate sustainability, it also becomes central to how those commitments are perceived. In today’s marketplace, consumers, investors, and regulators demand transparency and accountability, even across the most complex supply chains. This means procurement teams, whether accustomed to the spotlight or not, must be prepared to stand behind the data and the story it tells.
That requires treating sustainability with the same rigor as any financial or operational KPI. Clear definitions, consistent measurement, and strong baselines form the foundation for credible reporting. Ambitious yet realistic targets keep organizations moving forward, while continuous course correction ensures that commitments remain achievable.
But metrics alone are not enough. What builds trust is the ability to communicate results with clarity and context, explaining not only progress but also the challenges and trade-offs along the way. When procurement can demonstrate both discipline in execution and transparency in reporting, it strengthens the organization’s ESG narrative and enhances its reputation in the eyes of all stakeholders.
Ultimately, stepping into the spotlight is an opportunity for procurement. By leading with data, accountability, and credibility, procurement transforms sustainability from a compliance exercise into a source of competitive advantage and public trust.
Sourcing sustainability success
Reaching ambitious sustainability milestones (2030 or further) will not be achieved through vision statements alone. It will be achieved through the strategic influence and execution of procurement. Procurement teams are the connective tissue between corporate ambition and supply chain reality: sourcing sustainable materials, shaping supplier ecosystems, and ensuring that progress is both measurable and credible across every tier.
For companies serious about making a lasting impact, procurement must be seen not as a support function, but as a strategic catalyst for achieving ESG commitments. By harnessing procurement’s ability to align sourcing decisions with sustainability objectives, organizations can drive innovation, reduce risk, and create resilience across global supply chains.
In the end, the path to sustainability leadership runs directly through procurement. Those that empower their procurement teams to lead will not only meet their goals but set the standard for what responsible and future-ready business looks like.
