MANAMA: Two-thirds (66%) of leaders are actively working to reduce their supply chain’s impact, according to the findings of the survey.
The overwhelming majority or 66 per cent of leaders are keen to see the reduced impact of supply chain, Blue Yonder, the AI company for supply chain, released the 2026 Supply Chain Compass: Spotlight on Sustainability report, revealed.
The survey examines North American and European supply chain leaders’ prioritization and perception of sustainability initiatives. Blue Yonder surveyed 678 senior supply chain professionals from large enterprises with annual revenue of more than $500 million. Supply chains are responsible for 60% of global carbon emissions. Against that backdrop, Blue Yonder’s data shows sustainability is top of mind for many leaders.
“Sustainability remains a priority, even in a year marked by immediate business risks like tariffs, disruption and inflation,” said Saskia van Gendt, chief sustainability officer, Blue Yonder. “Right now, efforts are primarily focused on improving efficiency and productivity and making faster, better decisions, which can translate into less waste, more sustainable operations and cost savings. Sustainability is no longer a discrete objective, but a strategic element of mature, modern business plans.
Rather than pursuing sustainability as a standalone initiative, many supply chain leaders are advancing sustainability goals through improvements in their operations. More than one-quarter (26%) say data and traceability are the primary actions needed to further sustainability efforts, while 33% identify forecasting technology as a sustainability opportunity.
That shift is also visible in how companies are organizing. Nearly half of respondents (47%) say their companies have created dedicated sustainability teams, even as sustainability, in and of itself, becomes less likely to rank as a high priority. Only 12% of supply chain leaders list sustainability among their top three strategic priorities, down from 24% last year.
In a year when 68% of leaders cite economic challenges like labor and inflation as top concerns, it’s understandable that some priorities would shift. Sustainability is now viewed as a shared, cross-functional strategy owned by dedicated teams, operations and logistics.
Supply chain leaders are much more likely to associate AI with operational gains than with sustainability outcomes. Respondents’ top three operational benefits of AI were better planning and predictability (29%), better risk management (26%), and better, faster decision-making (23%). By contrast, only 11% believe AI could deliver sustainability benefits, and just 13% cite enhanced traceability as a key benefit of using AI.
This suggests that many leaders still view AI primarily through an operational lens, even though the capabilities they value most, including improved planning, faster decisions and better risk management, can also support sustainability by reducing waste and improving efficiency across the supply chain. As AI adoption grows, we can expect greater awareness of how operational proficiency translates into sustainability gains.
One-quarter (25%) of respondents said that current sustainability targets do not go far enough. Another 25% said the right sustainability initiatives will be disruptive to current processes. This underscores that leaders recognize both the urgency of the challenge and the operational change it can require.
As the report shows, many organizations are still working to translate sustainability goals into action. That makes better data, better visibility and stronger decision-making tools critical. To help improve reporting accuracy and optimize operational performance through unified, end-to-end insights, Blue Yonder has released several updates to its sustainability solutions.
