2025 Verdantix Survey Unveils Growing Focus On Risk Management For Supply Chain Sustainability

2025 Verdantix Survey Unveils Growing Focus On Risk Management For Supply Chain Sustainability

The year 2024 was notable for major social and environmental changes – impacting firms’ sustainability programmes across their supply chains. Elections held worldwide contributed to a climate of uncertainty, exacerbated by an increased number of adverse environmental events. As a result, the 2025 Verdantix global corporate supply chain sustainability survey reveals a global prioritization of supply chain sustainability as a risk mitigation strategy.

The 2025 Verdantix survey captures insights from 250 senior executives, spanning 32 countries and 10 industries, to guide business and technology vendors on investment trends and tech priorities. Three main takeaways from the survey show that:

1. Supply chain sustainability is a proactive risk mitigation strategy.
   Organizations are seeking to manage threats linked to the growing regulatory ecosystem, increased stakeholder and customer pressure, and more widespread exposure to adverse climate and geopolitical events. Some 56% of survey participants highlight the relevance of improving their ability to respond to adverse environmental events, such as Hurricane Helene in the US, extreme droughts in Brazil, and Typhoon Yagi in Southeast Asia. 
   
   
2. Limited skills and resources hinder the success of supply chain sustainability plans.
   Supply chain participants face rigorous sustainability requirements, with both customers and regulations obliging them to make ESG disclosures. However, suppliers encounter a lack of standardization across sustainability obligations, exacerbating fatigue. Many firms also struggle to engage and communicate with suppliers, for reasons related to language, location and business culture. This can lead to misalignment in sustainability initiatives and opaque insights into suppliers’ ESG performance.
   
   
3. Firms are seeking to invest in tech-enabled supply chain sustainability solutions.
   Firms are increasingly investing in solutions that improve supply chain visibility and performance management, such as AI-enabled tools for logistics optimization, blockchain for product and materials transparency, and digital twins for carbon emissions monitoring. Verdantix research expects the market for supply chain sustainability software to reach over $7 billion in 2029.
   
   

In 2025, firms face social, environmental and supply chain complexities that affect the success of sustainability goals across the value chain. To achieve desirable outcomes, decision-makers must set realistic goals and select the right supply chain sustainability software vendor, seeking customizable solutions tailored to their specific industry needs and ensuring granular insights into product and materials sustainability performance.