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Sustainability has moved from the margins of business into the centre of it. Most large organisations now have targets; many aligned with globally recognised sustainability frameworks like the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Procurement teams are increasingly expected to understand the emissions embedded in what they buy and change their behaviours accordingly.
The question is not whether companies should act, but how they deliver against commitments that are becoming more visible, more demanding and, if you operate in some jurisdictions like the European Union (EU), a legal requirement.
This article looks at why the current model has taken the industry this far, but is now reaching its limits, and why a different dynamic is beginning to emerge. It explores how sustainability is shifting from a compliance exercise towards something that can influence revenue, sourcing and competitive positioning, and what this means in practice for suppliers working in complex supply chains.
Why has sustainability made progress, but not scaled?
Over the past decade, sustainability has been shaped by a combination of intent and constraint. Many organisations chose to act early, often driven by leadership conviction or external scrutiny, while regulation and reporting frameworks gradually formalised expectations and created a baseline for action.
This combination has been effective in building structure. It introduced shared methodologies, brought consistency to reporting and made sustainability a recognised part of procurement and corporate strategy. The industry moved from a position where little was defined to one where most actors are working within a broadly understood system.
The difficulty appears when that system is pushed further. Early progress is achievable when the focus is on defining standards and addressing the most visible issues, but scaling beyond that point requires changes that are more operational, more complex and often more costly.
The consequences when the cost of action becomes visible
As companies move deeper into decarbonisation, the economic reality becomes harder to ignore. Many of the available levers, whether they involve changes in agricultural practices, energy use or sourcing patterns, come with a cost, while the associated return is often uncertain or delayed.
This creates a tension inside organisations. Sustainability remains a priority, but it competes with other investments that offer clearer or faster returns. In practical terms, this means that progress continues, but unevenly, with some initiatives advancing while others are deferred or scaled back.
For suppliers, the situation is similar. Improving production methods or providing more granular emissions data requires time and investment, and without a clear way to recover that cost, the incentive to move quickly is limited.
Why the current model struggles to go further
The current model relies heavily on compliance and expectation. Companies are asked to report, to improve and to align with evolving standards, and in many cases they do so, but the system does not always provide a direct link between those efforts and commercial outcomes.
A practical example illustrates this. Large brands frequently request detailed emissions data from their suppliers, sometimes across hundreds of products and multiple sourcing regions. There are real scenarios when thousands of emission factors are requested by a customer, yet only a handful supplier responses are considered robust enough to use. The issue was not a lack of willingness on the part of the supply chain, but a lack of alignment on methodology, format and how the data would ultimately be applied.
When this happens, the result is friction. Data requests go unanswered or are answered with averages, investments are made cautiously and progress becomes uneven because the effort required is not clearly connected to value.
When sustainability is linked to revenue everything changes
A different dynamic begins to emerge when sustainability can be connected to something more tangible than compliance. Where low-carbon production can be identified, structured and offered to the market, it starts to influence commercial decisions rather than sit alongside them.
his does not mean that every sustainability initiative becomes profitable, but it introduces a subset of actions that behave differently. If a supplier can demonstrate that part of its production carries a lower emission factor and can link that reduction to a specific volume, that volume becomes something that can be discussed, negotiated and sold.
For buyers, this creates an alternative to trying to fix every supply chain simultaneously. Instead of spreading effort across all suppliers, they can prioritise those who are already able to deliver measurable reductions, using procurement as a lever to accelerate change.
Target deadlines are approaching and sustainability data has matured
Several developments are bringing this shift into focus. Targets that once felt distant are now approaching, and the gap between ambition and delivery is becoming more visible within organisations. At the same time, pressure from customers is becoming more explicit, with decarbonisation requirements increasingly appearing in contracts rather than in separate sustainability commitments.
Alongside this, the data environment has improved. While still imperfect, there is now a shared understanding of how emissions are measured and reported, and companies have access to more detailed information about their supply chains than they did even a few years ago.
Taken together, these factors create a situation where companies need solutions that can be applied quickly and at scale, rather than approaches that rely on long-term transformation across every part of the value chain.
Suppliers need carrots too
Despite this progress, a gap remains between what is being asked of suppliers and what they are encouraged to deliver. Providing high-quality emissions data or investing in lower-carbon production methods involves a cost, and unless that cost is reflected in the commercial relationship, it is difficult to justify at scale.
This is why many suppliers continue to respond with average figures or partial information. The effort required to go further is significant, and without clarity on how the data will be used or valued, it is often postponed.
At the same time, brands face their own constraints. Large organisations cannot realistically redesign every supply chain they depend on, and the complexity of doing so increases with scale. This creates a situation where both sides recognise the need for change, but neither has a clear mechanism to drive it consistently.
What happens when low-carbon supply becomes accessible?
When lower-carbon production can be isolated and linked to specific volumes, the conversation changes. Instead of asking whether a supplier is improving in general terms, buyers can focus on whether specific products or batches meet their requirements.
This makes procurement more targeted. It becomes possible to secure volumes that contribute directly to emissions reduction targets, rather than relying on averages across an entire supplier base. For the supplier, it creates a clearer pathway to recover investment, as the value of lower-carbon production is tied to something that can be sold.
In practice, this can be more effective than attempting to address every source of emissions at once. It allows progress to be concentrated where it is already achievable, while creating an incentive for further improvements overtime.
Where the value comes from in this model
Pricing is one element, but it is not the only one. In some cases, lower-carbon products command a premium, particularly where supply is limited and demand is increasing. In others, the value lies in maintaining or expanding market share, as suppliers who can meet evolving requirements are more likely to retain or win business.
There is also a negative driver that becomes more visible over time. As expectations rise, suppliers who are unable to demonstrate progress risk being excluded from certain markets or losing volume to competitors who can.
Across all of these mechanisms, the common factor is that sustainability begins to influence commercial outcomes directly, rather than indirectly through reporting or reputation.
Why will outcomes differ between companies?
As these dynamics develop, a separation is likely to emerge between organisations that have access to lower-carbon supply and those that do not. Companies that can identify, secure and use these volumes will be better positioned to meet their targets and to demonstrate progress in a way that withstands scrutiny.
Others may continue to rely on averages or less precise measures, which can make it more difficult to show meaningful reductions over time. The difference is not necessarily in intent, but in the ability to translateambition into something that can be applied within procurement and sourcing decisions.
Accelerating the transition to lower carbon
Once lower-carbon production can be linked to demand, it begins to finance further change. A producer that invests in reducing emissions creates avolume that can be sold under different conditions, and that sale supports theinitial investment.
Over time, this creates a reinforcing dynamic. Demand for lower-carbon products encourages more suppliers to invest, which increases supply and allows buyers to scale their approach. Rather than requiring all actors to move simultaneously, the system evolves through a series of connected decisions.
This is typically how large transitions take place, not through uniform change, but through mechanisms that allow progress to build and spread.
Turning sustainability into a commercial lever
Ingredient suppliers and industrial producers already know that sustainability should be part of the conversation with customers. But how can it be used within existing and developing commercial models?
Segmos works with supply chains to structure low-carbon offerings, link them to real volumes and make them usable in procurement and customer discussions. By connecting sustainability data to physical supply flows, it becomes possible to move beyond reporting and into decisions that affect sourcing, pricing and market positioning.
If you are looking to understand how sustainability can be translated into something that supports revenue and long-term competitiveness, Segmos helps make that transition practical and scalable.
