Capgemini: Supply Chain Gaps Erode Climate Credibility

Capgemini’s latest sustainability research paints a complex picture: while corporate commitment to climate action continues to grow, the reality of achieving these ambitions is proving far more difficult - especially when it comes to supply chains.

Supply chain systems remain critical yet vulnerable touchpoints, where credibility, transparency and progress toward net-zero goals are being tested.

Capgemini’s report, A world in balance 2025: Unlocking resilience and long-term value through environmental action, explores the views of more than 2,000 senior executives and 6,566 consumers across 716 leading organisations.

It finds that, while a third (33%) of consumers in 2023 believed companies engaged in greenwashing, the same number now stands at 62%.

Capgemini connects this to the challenge of supply chain transparency. Organisations struggle with gathering verifiable supplier data and developing traceable emissions reduction plans. These gaps directly weaken the credibility of sustainability claims.

Supply chains are responsible for the bulk of most organisations’ emissions.

Scope 3 emissions typically make up more than 70% of a company's carbon footprint. Yet, only 21% of companies surveyed have transition plans that include interim targets and clear capital allocation. That leaves most supply chain teams without a structured framework for enforcing or tracking supplier-level emissions reductions.

Cyril Garcia, Head of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Capgemini, shares on LinkedIn: “Sustainability is no longer a side conversation. It’s becoming central to business strategy, resilience and long-term value.”

Net-zero goals remain slow

The ambition to act on sustainability is there – 82% of organisations plan to increase investment in environmental sustainability in the next 12 to 18 months, up from 64% in 2024.

Additionally, sustainability is now a key investment decision criterion for 66% of businesses and 59% of executives see a clear business case for it. Just 22% say the costs outweigh the benefits.

However, increased investment does not guarantee faster progress. Only 1% of organisations are now considered sustainability front-runners, down from 7% in 2024. The research finds that, while 82% of organisations maintain their net-zero targets for 2041 or later, only a fraction have made measurable progress.

One key issue is fragmentation. Almost two-thirds (65%) of executives say initiatives are slowed by geopolitical tensions, operational silos and budget constraints.

These challenges hit supply chains particularly hard. Shifting sourcing strategies, higher energy and transport costs and increased supplier complexity make consistent carbon tracking across supplier networks even harder.

Generative AI (Gen AI) also appears to be in retreat within sustainability strategies, with usage dropping from 65% of organisations in 2024 to 52% in 2025. In contrast, 64% of executives continue to use AI to support sustainability goals – particularly in supply chains. AI is being applied to optimise logistics, cut down on empty miles, improve demand forecasting and map emissions hotspots.

AI itself is not without scrutiny as its own energy demands raise environmental concerns. The report notes that 52% of executives discuss Gen AI's environmental impact at board level. A smaller group (29%) are exploring agentic AI, a form that can autonomously manage end-to-end processes.

Unlike Gen AI, which generates content or insights, agentic AI can act across supply chain systems to execute sustainability tasks without direct human instruction.

Sustainability leadership needs supply chain integration

Miguel Sossa-Mardomingo, Vice President, Deputy Americas Sustainability Lead at Capgemini, spoke at Sustainability LIVE Chicago 2025 in The CSO Strategy Forum.

The panellists explained that sustainability needs to be reframed when it comes to growth, profit and business risk rather than being treated as a side initiative. 

Sustainability leaders were encouraged to act boldly rather than wait for perfect data or conditions. 

Sol Salinas, Executive Vice President, Sustainability Lead for the Americas at Capgemini spoke to Sustainability Magazine at the event.

“As we do our work at Capgemini, we recognise that increasingly we have to engage multiple functions within the enterprise,” he says.

“The Chief Sustainability Officer role is one that is a convening role in many ways and they have to rely very heavily on their colleagues, whether it's in procurement, supply chain, IT, HR, marketing or others.”

Sol advises: “The more that we as sustainability practitioners engage with our colleagues in other parts of the enterprise, the better off we'll be and the more likely we are to succeed.”

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