A new MIT survey of 1,810 supply chain professionals across 91 countries finds that 83% rate sustainability as important or very important to long-term business success, the highest level in the report's seven-year history. Yet governance lags: only 51% of companies with public sustainability goals have a formal cross-functional team, and just 33% place oversight at board level. Nearly 70% say tariff uncertainty forced them to delay or scale back sustainability strategies, while more than eight in 10 say geopolitical conflict is reducing the effectiveness of climate action.
According to www.dcvelocity.com, corporate commitment to sustainability has reached a record high, but oversight is lagging and external disruptions are keeping companies from delivering transformational results, based on the 2026 State of Supply Chain Sustainability report from the MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (MIT CTL), released in October 2026.
The researchers surveyed 1,810 supply chain professionals across 91 countries. Of those respondents, 83% rate sustainability as important or very important to long-term business success — the highest level in the report’s seven-year history.
The report also found that corporate commitment has grown despite recent shifts in U.S. climate policy. 59% of respondents said they have become more committed to sustainability, while just 13% said they have become less committed.
External pressures stall execution
Those advances are being tempered by outside factors. Nearly 70% of respondents said that tariff uncertainty has forced their organizations to delay, scale back, or compromise sustainability strategies.
More than eight in 10 respondents said that geopolitical conflict is reducing the effectiveness of climate action, according to the report. The effects of geopolitics and governance form just one of four themes examined in the research.
The study also evaluates where sustainability efforts “live” in the supply chain, how artificial intelligence is affecting sustainability goals, and how warehousing and freight transportation operations are progressing toward decarbonization.
Governance lags behind public ambition
Internal problems exist as well: the study found that companies’ public sustainability ambition is outpacing the governance and accountability needed to deliver results.
“Companies with formal cross-functional sustainability teams are far more likely to embed sustainability in everyday decisions: 57% do so frequently or always, compared with 13% where responsibility sits within a single function. Yet only 51% of companies with public sustainability goals have a formal cross-functional team, and only 33% place oversight at board level. Many companies have set the direction but have not yet built the internal structures needed to turn those commitments into consistent action.” — MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab report
The gap is stark: 57% of companies with formal cross-functional teams embed sustainability in everyday decisions frequently or always, versus 13% where responsibility sits within a single function. Yet only 51% of companies with public sustainability goals have a formal cross-functional team, and only 33% place oversight at board level.
Logistics emerges as prime action area
One of the key findings is that logistics is emerging as a prime area for sustainability action. The research identified daily operations such as transportation and logistics, procurement, warehousing, and product and packaging design as the most common areas where companies are applying sustainability efforts today.
Those efforts are less visible in areas such as capital investment, network design, and risk planning. According to the report, the pattern suggests that sustainability is becoming part of how companies operate their supply chains faster than it is becoming part of how they design them.
The business benefits are tangible, the report states: compliance, operational efficiency, and supply chain visibility are the most widely reported gains, while resilience and risk reduction also rank ahead of direct cost savings. The business case for sustainability is driven more by operational gains than by direct cost savings.
The full report is available for download from MIT CTL.
Source: DC Velocity
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
