Report cover image

Operationalizing Supply Chain ESG: Aligning Sustainability with Cost, Efficiency, and Resilience

Publisher IDC
Published Feb 17, 2026
Length 10 Pages
SKU # IDC20900792

Description

This IDC Perspective examines how supply chain organizations are evolving their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives from compliance-driven reporting to performance-oriented programs that directly support cost reduction, operational efficiency, and resilience. This document outlines the three ESG domains where supply chain functions can create the greatest impact — energy and resource efficiency, supplier performance and risk management, and circularity and waste reduction — and describes how unified ESG data, modern planning systems, and sustainability-enabled network design tools help organizations embed these measures into daily decision-making. CIOs and chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) will find guidance on building the data foundations, governance models, and technology road maps needed to integrate ESG metrics into operational planning processes and to ensure sustainability investments deliver tangible business value.“As regulatory pressure fluctuates and global mandates such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) drive continued transparency expectations, supply chain leaders increasingly prioritize sustainability actions that also deliver measurable financial and operational benefits,” says John Bermudez, adjunct research advisor for IDC’s IT Executive Programs (IEP).

Table of Contents

10 Pages

Executive Snapshot

Key takeaways

Recommended actions

Situation Overview

Three priorities for cost-aligned supply chain ESG

Energy and resource efficiency

Technology examples

Supplier performance and risk management

Technology examples

Circularity and waste reduction

Technology examples

Measuring ESG impact

Challenges of ESG measurement and management

Building a unified ESG data model

Role of network design and optimization tools in ESG

Role of CIOs and CSCOs in the new ESG landscape

Collaborative leadership: ESG as operational excellence

ESG in a post-mandate era

Advice for the Technology Buyer

Learn More

Related research

Synopsis

Search Inside Report

Pricing

Currency Rates
How Do Licenses Work?

How Do Licenses Work?

The primary function of a report license is to define how many people within a company are authorized to use the purchased report. This is separate to how a report might be delivered. Unless specifically identified otherwise, the purchase option is Single User. Below is a helpful description of that license, along with a sampling of others most commonly offered.

  • This license allows only one user to have access to and to use/read the report. It is not one user at a time or one user group; it is an individual who will be reading and utilizing the report.

  • This license allows for the entire purchasing company to read and use the report. This is the license level that would allow for a report to be placed on an internal company shared drive for access by all employees of that direct company. This license does not extend to parent or sister company use.

  • This license is designed to allow an entire department within a company full access to a report. The departmental license is a great option for companies that have more than one location and the department is spread out all over the country/world

  • This license is for companies that have one location where they want the report to be accessible by all employees within that physical location.

  • This is the most flexible of the licensing options. Some publishers will allow you to get a license for a preset number of people (typically 5). These licenses are ideal for small work groups.

License options are at the discretion of each publisher. As such, not all licenses indicated above are available for every product. If you are uncertain of the best license for your needs or would like a license that is not proactively available, please contact us and we will be happy to assist.

Request A Sample
Head shot

Questions or Comments?

Our team has the ability to search within reports to verify it suits your needs. We can also help maximize your budget by finding sections of reports you can purchase.
Chat Now
Contact Us