Supply chain News and trends

Salesforce recently released a study that reveals a large majority of executives think sustainability is key to their organizations’ success, but only about a third consider their business to have effectively adopted sustainable operations in practice.

The study, conducted in partnership with GlobeScan, surveyed 200 sustainability, finance, and technology professionals, including 76 C-suite executives from the United States, Europe, and Asia. The study identified a major gap between ambition and realistic action — while 93% of these executives highly value sustainability in terms of their business’ success, only 37% find it to be well-integrated into their business.

Nine out of 10 business leaders across Europe plan to maintain or increase their sustainability-linked investments by 2026, a survey by German business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) said on Wednesday.

Factors driving action included the need to meet board environmental commitments, with 40%; a desire to boost the way the company is viewed by society, 39%; a chance to develop new products, 38%; and to boost revenues and profit, 37%.

Edward Manderson, lecturer in environmental economics at the University of Manchester, said he had been "surprised" at how widespread the view was that "taking sustainability action improves profitability".

In its annual study, SAP surveyed 1,702 European business leaders to cast a light on the challenges companies face to advance their sustainability plans as Europe seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Climate change ranks as a top priority for C-level executives (CxOs) in Deloitte’s latest survey, with 75% reporting that their organizations increased sustainability investments over the past year in spite of economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

The EY CEO Survey 2022, part of the CEO Imperative Series, reports that sustainability is a key priority for almost all MENA executives, with 97% naming environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles ‘extremely or more important’ as a driver of value over the coming years, more than other parts of the world.

Of the respondents, 29% see sustainability as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. As such, a number of companies are looking to embed sustainability into their business strategies as they plan for the future.

One-third (33%) of MENA respondents say that pressure from governments, regulators, and society are the primary drivers of their sustainability strategy. And while MENA companies may be encountering resistance from some investors regarding their sustainability transition strategy, they also recognize that it is an important factor in attracting sustainability-minded investors and talent.

ABB today released the findings of a new global study of international business and technology leaders on industrial transformation, looking at the intersection of digitalization and sustainability. The study, “Billions of better decisions: industrial transformation’s new imperative,” examines the current take-up of the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and its potential for improving energy efficiency, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and driving change. The goal of the new ABB research is to spur discussion within industry regarding opportunities to leverage the Industrial IoT and empower companies and workers to make better decisions that can benefit both sustainability and the bottom line.

A new report — co-authored by Fashion for Good and the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) and sponsored by HSBC — for the first time charts a trajectory for the industry to meet the net-zero ambition, mapping the integral levers across existing solutions such as renewable energy, and emerging innovations such as next-generation materials and circular and other end-of-life solutions for textiles. Estimating an investment opportunity of $1 trillion to finance the transition, the report breaks down the funding needed by solution category and identifies the types of funders best placed to take advantage of the opportunity and benefit from the positive returns.

Only one in 10 of the world’s largest food companies are committed to promoting healthy and sustainable diets, according to new research.

A report, called Fixing the Business of Food, analysed the world’s 100 largest food companies to reveal the “progress and gaps in sustainability strategies across the agri-food sector”.

The report was conducted by the Barilla Foundation, UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) and Santa Chiara Lab, University of Siena (SCL).

The companies were assessed against its ‘Four Pillar Framework’, which was developed in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Yet another impact of the  COVID-19 pandemic has been revealed.  Consumers now have an elevated ' focus on sustainability and willingness to pay out of their own pockets – or even take a pay cut – for a sustainable future, according to a new IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) survey of over 14,000 consumers in nine countries.

A key thread of the research examined the ability of people to visualize the future. Results showed that while 74 percent of respondents were concerned about climate change, only 29 percent discussed lower carbon options when asked to describe travel in the year 2050.

"This suggests actively envisioning a sustainable future was less prevalent than climate change concern. So while the majority were concerned, there was a disconnect with expectations of what the future might hold," says lead author Jean Fletcher, who completed the study as part of her Ph.D. in Otago's Centre for Science Communication.

New research from sustainability consulting firm Pure Strategies reveals growth in corporate spending in sustainability; more than 80 percent of surveyed companies expect a budget increase from 2016 to 2017 with a third anticipating double-digit growth.

Almost all procurement managers now look for sustainably-produced material in their purchases, according to a new survey – which comes as analysis of corporate deforestation commitments shows a dramatic rise in disclosure. Also, companies that hopped early onto the sustainability bandwagon say it’s paying off financially.

The report, which includes a survey of 1,000 business leaders, looks at nine countries, including the United States, China, Britain and Spain, focusing on the energy, technology, infrastructure, transport and logistics sectors.

It defines green skills as "the knowledge, competencies, values and attributes needed to develop and support a sustainable, low-carbon and resource-efficient society", be it via technical skills, such as installing solar panels, or broader practices like corporate sustainability reporting.

While a vast majority of business leaders surveyed see skills as the main driver of the green transition, only 55% of them have put in place, or plan to, programmes for their workers to get these skills.

"This leaves a large fraction of the workforce without crucial skills training, which risks obstructing progress in the green transition," said the report.

Overall, 62% of respondents expect such bottlenecks to delay the transition, and many respondents want governments to pitch in with grants or tax relief for companies investing in green skill programmes, as well as funding for educational courses.

In a report, Schneider Electric found that one-third of Singaporean business leaders are digital sustainability leaders as they strongly support digitalisation as a key driver for sustainability goals.

Meanwhile, 59% are Digital Sustainability Adopters as they do not believe in pursuing digitalisation as strongly, and 7% are sceptics since they disagree or are unsure of digitalisation in supporting sustainability.

The pandemic has done more than just intensify the urge to travel, it has made us considerably more aware of the impact of our travel. According to Booking.com’s 2021 sustainable travel report, 61% of travelers said that the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably, and a further 81% intend to stay in sustainable accommodations at least once in the upcoming year. However, it is clear that barriers still remain, with 49% believing there simply aren’t enough sustainable options available to them.

Many hotels still largely depend on fossil fuels for their energy, and according to a recent green lodging trends report, a mere 21% have on-site renewable energy. These energy-intensive systems, used for things like heating water for showers and spas, and keeping guests’ rooms at comfortable temperatures create carbon emissions. These emissions, particularly at large resorts with an abundance of amenities add up, contributing to the roughly 8% of greenhouse gas emissions that estimates attribute to Global tourism.

Young consumers' willingness to spend more for sustainable products and services find a top spot in a study published by Credit Suisse Research Institute (CSRI). The study also reveals that India ranks second in young consumers’ degree of engagement with sustainable products. The study reveals the preferences of the young consumers - from fashion, food to transportation.

ESG is quickly emerging as the common framework to evaluate the overall health of a business’s operating model and the company’s long-term resiliency. Key stakeholders are searching for, and are increasingly demanding, thoughtful, forward-looking policies and programs in all three of these areas. This ebook from Antea Group takes a deep dive into why and how developing and implementing an ESG program can be systematic, yet flexible enough to fit the scope and scale of your business operations.

Acosta, a global integrated sales and marketing services provider in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, today released its latest research report, Sustainability Impact on Purchase Behavior. With 59% of shoppers making it a priority to live a more environmentally-conscious lifestyle, the findings demonstrate how consumers plan to take more actions with sustainability in mind.

Businesses are finding it hard to manage reporting on climate risks and need to take urgent steps to meet the expectations of regulators as well as investors, according to a report.

Leading consultancy EY's report covered over 1,100 organisations across 42 countries, including India, and focussed on efforts made by them to publish their climate-related risks and opportunities based on the recommendations set by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

In late February, Sky News aired an investigative report centered on the utilization of child labor in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The investigation shed light on a vastly complex apparatus of the most brutal forms of exploitation utilized to extract the Congo’s vast mineral wealth.

"For the average company, the vast majority of its greenhouse gas emissions are in its supply chain - four times its direct emissions" says Dexter Galvin, head of supply chain programme at CDP.