EcoVadis & Accenture: Procurement Leaders Rely on Innovation

EcoVadis and Accenture have released a collaborative report entitled The 2026 Sustainable Procurement Barometer, exploring the role sustainability plays in procurement and supply chain success. 

The role of procurement has shifted significantly in recent years, becoming less of cost-savings back-office job and more of a strategic driver of business growth.

In today's era, sustainability compliance is no longer enough – as consumers prioritise companies who are going above and beyond in their sustainability initiatives, those who do not adapt to this new expectation will fail to see significant growth. 

Welcoming innovation

EcoVadis is dedicated to embedding sustainability intelligence into global business decisions, helping organisations unlock value with due diligence and transparency. EcoVadis' detailed insights offer global and actionable ratings to help businesses comply with ESG regulations, GHG emissions and improve sustainability performances of global value chains.

In a collaboration with Accenture, a technology consulting company which provides strategy and operations services to clients around the world, aiding in the implementation of AI, cloud computing and digital transformation, EcoVadis has published its 2026 Sustainable Procurement Barometer. This looks at how businesses around the world are implementing sustainability and what their priorities are for ROI growth.

According to the research, the leading organisations are seeing more return from innovation across the supply chain, rather than mere compliance. Out of the top 10% of leaders, 80% of them state that innovation is the primary driver of return on investment (ROI) within their sustainable procurement programmes. This surpasses compliance and is higher than those of 54% of other companies. 

In the UK, the top three most cited benefits from sustainable procurement programmes include regulatory preparedness (70%), risk reduction (65%) and innovation outcomes (62%). Procurement leaders are encouraging circular products now more than ever, with an increase of priority to supplier-driven innovation. In 2024, only 9% of companies ran innovation initiatives across 26-75% of supplier spends – this is now at 58%, demonstrating how the switch in strategy has occurred. 

Limited visibility

As the geopolitical landscape becomes more expensive and less predictable, procurement leaders are under greater pressure to manage risk and drive value. The role now focuses on managing cost, risk and disruption, all while driving sustainability initiatives. The companies who are most successful are turning these sustainability goals into growth, efficiency and resilience. 

Accenture has found that disruptions are costing organisations more than US$1.6tn in lost annual revenue growth. However, the companies that are embedding sustainability into their risk management strategies and vice versa have become more resilient when facing these risks. As such, they have gained a 3.6% higher revenue growth than their peers.

There is a growing gap in digital application between suppliers and buyers, with procurement teams turning towards AI more and more. In order to manage the increasing demand, procurement leaders are relying on this technology for predictive analytics (72%), risk screening (64%) and data validation (62%). However, suppliers are not able to meet this level of adoption.

The UK has the lowest proportion of suppliers using AI, automation, real-time data and predictive analytics to help with their sustainability management and reporting (23.9%), however, they ranked as being the most likely to adopt this technology in the upcoming two years. At the other end of this, UK buyers are actively enhancing sustainable procurement with AI – 75% respondents use it for carbon data validation, 67%for supplier risk screening and 65% for predictive analytics. 

This difference in adoption is leading to limited visibility and value creation across supply networks, with 80% of global buyers having visibility into more than half of their Tier 1 suppliers, but increasingly limited visibility across Tier 2 and Tier 3. 

“The question is no longer whether to invest in sustainable procurement. It is how to make it deliver measurable business results,” says Pierre-François Thaler, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis. 

“The leaders are using sustainability data to make everyday sourcing decisions, applying AI to manage risk and performance at scale, and holding suppliers accountable for improvement. That is what turns sustainability into cost control, resilience, and growth.”

Shared ideals

There is an increasing global convergence around three main topics, but differing regulatory and market trajectories create regional differences.

• Carbon management as a constant - 54% of global respondents cite advancing net-zero progress as a top-three programme focus area. This is expected to stay the same over the next three years.
• Supplier labour practices are key - increasing due diligence requirements are driving higher labour standards as a baseline expectation. There is mounting pressure to increase visibility into the workforce and working conditions throughout the supply chain.
• Value-driven priorities are rising - organisations are beginning to prioritise value-creation opportunities like circularity and responsible AI, with growing concerns of data ethics and digital traceability. 

These three key focus areas are seen across regions, shaping sustainable procurement strategies.

“Many companies now consider sustainable procurement a core driver of business performance,” adds Matias Pollmann-Larsen, Global Risk, Resilience and Sustainable Value Chain Lead at Accenture. 

“Organisations that combine sustainability data with AI are making faster, more informed decisions across their supply chains. That is improving resilience, reducing disruption, and driving measurable growth.”

There is a clear demonstration that companies who are actively welcoming innovation across their sustainable procurement are seeing the benefits and the increasing ROI. As the market becomes scrutinised more, the businesses who are not just complying are gaining more consumer growth, as well as an increase in supply chain resilience.