How ready is your supply chain for ESG?
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is no longer a fringe conversation reserved for sustainability teams or annual reports, it’s a boardroom issue, a growth lever, and a litmus test for long-term business resilience. Yet despite the surge in regulation, investor scrutiny, and public expectation, many organizations are still asking the same question: Are we actually ready?
Today’s business leaders are operating in a paradox. On one hand, ESG is positioned as a strategic imperative linked to access to capital, supply chain stability, talent attraction, and brand trust. On the other hand, market readiness remains uneven. Data is fragmented, standards are evolving, ownership is unclear, and ESG initiatives are too often treated as compliance exercises rather than value-creating strategies.
As new ESG regulations—including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)—gain momentum globally, supply chain leaders are facing rising pressure to achieve end-to-end transparency and compliance across all supplier tiers. Working with the Indago supply chain research community, business leaders globally were surveyed to better understand how companies are prioritizing ESG compliance, the progress they have made, and the obstacles they continue to face.
Visibility gaps: Most organizations report visibility limited to tier-one suppliers. Securing data beyond this level and encouraging suppliers to share necessary information emerged as major challenges.
Data management challenges: A striking 59% rely on spreadsheets or manual surveys for ESG data collection and management. This fragmented approach raises risks of inaccuracies, data silos, and scalability issues, especially as compliance demands grow.
Future plans: While 48% report no current plans to improve traceability, 41% aim to tackle this challenge within the next three years, signalling growing awareness among forward-thinking businesses.
Survey respondents also highlighted the urgent need for standardized tools, greater industry collaboration, and technology-driven solutions. This reinforces the reality that no company can achieve compliance alone. Success requires cooperation and collaboration across ecosystems.
Today’s business leaders are operating in a paradox. On one hand, ESG is positioned as a strategic imperative linked to access to capital, supply chain stability, talent attraction, and brand trust. On the other hand, market readiness remains uneven. Data is fragmented, standards are evolving, ownership is unclear, and ESG initiatives are too often treated as compliance exercises rather than value-creating strategies.
As new ESG regulations—including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)—gain momentum globally, supply chain leaders are facing rising pressure to achieve end-to-end transparency and compliance across all supplier tiers. Working with the Indago supply chain research community, business leaders globally were surveyed to better understand how companies are prioritizing ESG compliance, the progress they have made, and the obstacles they continue to face.
Key findings from the survey
Priority split: Nearly half of respondents (48%) rate ESG as a high priority, while 52% consider it a low priority. For many in the latter group, ESG remains reactive, only gaining attention when customer or regulatory pressure mounts.Visibility gaps: Most organizations report visibility limited to tier-one suppliers. Securing data beyond this level and encouraging suppliers to share necessary information emerged as major challenges.
Data management challenges: A striking 59% rely on spreadsheets or manual surveys for ESG data collection and management. This fragmented approach raises risks of inaccuracies, data silos, and scalability issues, especially as compliance demands grow.
Future plans: While 48% report no current plans to improve traceability, 41% aim to tackle this challenge within the next three years, signalling growing awareness among forward-thinking businesses.
Why this moment demands leadership
The companies poised to lead are those that move beyond reacting to external pressures. Embedding ESG into decision-making, operations, and performance metrics is essential. Market readiness isn’t about achieving perfect scores, it’s about having the clarity, capability, and conviction to take meaningful action.Survey respondents also highlighted the urgent need for standardized tools, greater industry collaboration, and technology-driven solutions. This reinforces the reality that no company can achieve compliance alone. Success requires cooperation and collaboration across ecosystems.
Recommendations to accelerate your ESG journey
This survey highlights a clear gap between ESG awareness and operational readiness. Preparing data for compliance and customer reporting can take months, especially if managed manually. Ignoring this reality only prolongs the process, increases costs, and creates headaches down the line.Turning challenge into opportunity:
- Elevate ESG to a strategic business priority
- Invest in digital tools that enable transparency and traceability
- Foster collaboration across your supply network
- Focus initially on high-risk, high-visibility categories, such as commodities linked to deforestation
Learn more
To dive deeper into the survey insights, read the full report here.
For businesses looking to move beyond compliance and truly embed ESG into their supply chain processes, digital transparency and traceability solutions are essential. Infor Nexus™ offers a robust platform designed to help companies tackle evolving regulations, support product origin claims, and meet the growing demands of ethical and eco-conscious consumers. By enabling multi-tier supply chain visibility and collaboration, Infor Nexus empowers organizations to reduce risk, increase accountability, and drive meaningful outcomes.
Explore how Infor Nexus can help transform your ESG strategy: https://www.infor.com/solutions/scm/infor-nexus/traceability
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