Deloitte: How are Companies Reshaping Supply Chain Reporting

Deloitte has published its assessment of 200 organisations reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), a European Union regulation that makes sustainability disclosures mandatory. 

The directive sets detailed requirements for companies to explain their environmental and social impact across supply chains, forcing new approaches to data collection, supplier engagement and value chain accountability.

Ivan Kukhnin, Partner for Strategy, Risk & Transactions, Sustainability at Deloitte Netherlands, explains: “Drawing on an analysis of 200 organisations in the first wave of mandatory sustainability reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), this report provides data-driven insights into how leading organisations are responding to evolving requirements and leveraging reporting as a strategic advantage.”

The Deloitte study, titled 'Beyond compliance: Enhancing trust through reporting', highlights how the CSRD framework is shifting supply chain management from voluntary commitments to regulated disclosure, creating both challenges and strategic opportunities.

Supply chains under scrutiny

Consumer industries form the largest share of Deloitte’s analysis, with 62 companies assessed. 

The report shows that compliance forces these businesses to map suppliers and engage more actively across value chains.

Nearly all disclose emissions linked to purchased goods and services, while 94% also report emissions from upstream transport and distribution. This pushes supply chain managers to account for Scope 3 emissions, the indirect greenhouse gases linked to supplier operations and logistics.

Circular economy practices are also embedded into consumer reporting. Deloitte notes frequent disclosure of strategies to improve product lifecycles, including durability, recyclability and secondary material use.

Plastic reduction road maps, repair programmes and refill models all appear as part of supply chain design and product development.

In the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) industry, which covers 30 companies, supply chain risks take a different shape.

Around 60% report on workers within their value chain, focusing on labour standards such as health and safety, child labour and forced labour. 

Value chain transparency

The financial services sector demonstrates how CSRD expands transparency into financed emissions–the emissions linked to investment and lending portfolios. Deloitte finds that 90% of banks disclose targets for portfolio emissions, which could redirect capital flows towards lower carbon alternatives.

Yet the analysis shows heavy reliance on estimates rather than direct supplier or counterparty data, with most reports using the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) methodology.

For energy, resources and industrials, covering 55 companies, CSRD requirements highlight supply chain emissions and transition planning. Thirty disclose explicit net zero targets for Scope 3 emissions and 51 publish climate transition plans. Deloitte points out that these strategies demand deeper operational data collection, including energy use by source, water withdrawal and waste composition.

Nearly nine in ten disclose resource use and circular economy practices, while 73% report on biodiversity and ecosystems. Supply chains in this sector face pressure not only to decarbonise but also to track raw material impacts at a granular level.

Embedding supply chain sustainability

Life sciences and healthcare companies, a smaller group of 16 organisations, also extend CSRD reporting into supply chains. 

Deloitte highlights reporting on product access for low-resource communities, patient safety and data privacy.

About 30% disclose animal welfare considerations in preclinical testing. Supply chain risks include medicine disposal and device waste, although Deloitte notes that few organisations set measurable targets to address these impacts.

Jeff Schwartz, Global Non-Financial Reporting Disclosures Co-leader at Deloitte, adds: “The CSRD represents a pivotal shift, with mandatory disclosure and assurance driving transparency and accountability in sustainability reporting.

“For organisations willing to embrace this change, sustainability reporting becomes more than a requirement–it can be a catalyst for innovation, resilience and trust.”

Laurent Vandendooren, also Global Non-Financial Reporting Disclosures Co-leader at Deloitte, adds: “The CSRD establishes a framework for corporate sustainability reporting, creating important transparency for both internal and external stakeholders.

“It also compels organisations to make meaningful progress on their actions and programmes to become a more sustainable business.”

Deloitte’s recommendations for businesses underline the supply chain angle. The firm advises embedding sustainability into procurement and capital allocation, using materiality assessments to prioritise risks and opportunities and investing in flexible data systems to track supplier performance.

Governance structures must connect sustainability reporting to finance, risk and legal functions to ensure accountability across value chains.

Ivan concludes that CSRD is far from a compliance exercise: “Wave 1 of CSRD reporting revealed just how much organisations underestimated the effort involved. 

“Unlike financial reporting, there’s no ‘off-the-shelf’ solution–you can’t just plug in a system and move on. Getting it right requires finance-grade discipline, smart use of existing data and cross-functional collaboration.

“But mandatory sustainability reporting isn’t just about producing one report a year–it’s about continuously driving performance. 

“With the right data, businesses gain the insight to course correct, prioritise investment and make sustainability a core lever of strategic decision-making."