August 2021 Sustainability News

Executives lead the charge in supply chain sustainability efforts: report

The push to make supply chains more sustainable came from many stakeholders in 2020, but executives were the most likely to pressure their companies to make commitments, according to the State of the Supply Chain Sustainability 2021 report, cited in an article by Supply Chain Dive.

The report found that 52% of respondents said their company had supply chain sustainability goals, a 4% increase from 2019. And 82% said their companies’ commitments to these goals had either remained or increased since the start of the pandemic, compared to 9% of respondents that decreased commitments.

Some executives cited the pressure from stakeholders while others said 2020 provided a unique opportunity to drive organizational change due to the start of the decade or “the extreme volatility” experienced throughout the year, according to the report.

But beyond the commitments, the report also reveals supply chain professionals lack a shared definition for what counts as sustainability and often prioritize different elements as they look to meet their goals.

When survey respondents were asked about the specific practices they took to advance supply chain sustainability, they said practices surrounding employee welfare and energy savings were the most commonly included in corporate goals.

Survey: Many companies yet to advance on sustainability goals

A new study suggests that many organizations that have set greener travel as a goal have yet to take concrete action toward achieving those aims, according to a report in Business Travel News.

According to a survey of 220 travel managers in the U.S. and Canada conducted in April by corporate expense management and accounts payable specialist Emburse in conjunction with the Global Business Travel Association, about half of respondent organizations planned to increase their focus on environmentally sustainable travel after the pandemic, but only 35 percent actually have a sustainability policy that encompasses corporate travel.

Sustainability concerns in many cases take a backseat to financial factors, according to the study, with just 14 percent of respondent companies reporting a willingness to pay more for a greener travel supplier. And while 40 percent of respondents tabbed sustainability as an “important” or “very important” factor when choosing suppliers, that figure was far outpaced by cost concerns, cited as a key factor by 78 percent of respondents, and traveler convenience, which was a priority for 85 percent.

Just 22 percent of respondents used sustainability data when selecting a supplier, according to the survey.