Three Ways to Strengthen Supply Chain Resilience Through Sustainability

Sustainability is increasingly being recognized as essential for long-term supply chain resilience. Yet organizations must balance cost efficiency, operational continuity, regulatory compliance, consumer expectations, and investor requirements. 

Responsible sourcing practices and a more sustainable supply chain, done efficiently, empower all these objectives. Here are three key ways to combine sustainability initiatives and supply chain resilience in 2025.

1. Utilize Sustainable Practices For Strategic Advantage Many still view sustainability as a cost burden, but research shows it delivers tangible business benefits – even CFOs can see this! 

Companies that integrate a sustainable approach and embed activities for supply chain due diligence — such as multi-tier supplier visibility and proactive risk assessment — can reduce costs, improve risk mitigation, and enhance operational efficiency. On the flip side, neglecting supply chain sustainability carries financial risks: the World Economic Forum warns climate-related disruptions around the world could cut corporate earnings by 7% annually by 2035, while to date, the US government has seized more than $3.6 billion of goods under the UFLPA. 

Jon Hancock, CEO of Sedex

Beyond cost savings, sustainable practices strengthen resilience. Companies with good visibility across their supply chain and detailed data on supplier practices can better identify and address gaps, manage risks, and proactively adapt to disruptions like strikes, extreme weather, or logistical obstacles. 

Consumer expectations are also evolving. Shoppers demand ethically sourced products but expect companies to take on the burden of ensuring this – and without compromising on other factors such as quality or convenience, even while they may be willing to spend a little more. By increasingly embedding sustainability into operations, products, and practices over the years, companies build a stronger reputation with consumers today and ensure they can meet their expectations tomorrow.

2. New Sustainability-Related Regulations Are Redefining Supply Chain Accountability Increasing transparency requirements and corporate accountability for actively tackling supply chain issues are changing how businesses approach supply chain management. From the EU’s Deforestation Regulation to the UFLPA in the US, companies must meet rising compliance standards while navigating regional variations.  

Global compliance is challenging for any business and an ever-changing task, as the EU’s recent “Omnibus Simplification Package” has shown. Companies are forced to juggle varying legal requirements across different jurisdictions alongside reporting frameworks from investors, sector-specific regulations, and more. While some standards align, the landscape is overwhelmingly complicated. 

A mature approach is to look beyond individual laws or frameworks to identify the common activities, information, and outcomes across these and build a single strategy that streamlines sustainability-related activities. For supply chain aspects, organizations increasingly turn to digital platforms to centralize supplier data, conduct integrated analysis at scale, streamline reporting, and manage supply chain compliance efficiently. The ability to leverage the resulting insights to inform sourcing decisions and strategy is an incredibly powerful competitive advantage – especially as companies review their procurement strategies in the face of trade tariffs. 

3. Data and Technology Enable Global Visibility and Insightful Decisions  With vast supplier networks generating massive amounts of sustainability-related data, businesses need advanced tools to make sense of it all. Technology-driven solutions — such as predictive risk analytics, standardized data collection, and automated integration — help organizations analyze practices across thousands of suppliers and sites, track compliance, and make data-driven decisions about where to dedicate finite resources to drive improvement.  

These don’t have to cost the earth. For example, a Total Economic Impact study by Forrester (commissioned by Sedex) found that using our solutions can avoid audit costs of $2,000 per worksite and reduce labor costs for supply chain sustainability management by up to 70%. 

Innovations like AI and blockchain also hold significant potential to further enhance supply chain visibility, risk mapping and data collection at scale, though it’s important to triangulate digital analysis with other methods too – like in-person observation and assessment. 

Final Thoughts Sustainability isn’t just a brand asset or compliance requirement — it’s a success strategy. 

Companies that embed sustainable practices in their own operations and beyond will be better equipped to navigate disruptions, meet regulatory demands, and stay competitive in today’s uncertain markets.

Deploying the right technology to streamline and scale supply chain sustainability means a company is positioned to proactively identify opportunities and manage related challenges across a global supply chain – rather than reacting to a constantly changing external landscape. 

Jon Hancock is the CEO of Sedex.

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