Procurement teams are increasingly expected to deliver three outcomes simultaneously: reduce costs, strengthen supply chain resilience, and support sustainability goals.
 
It’s a complex triangle of trade-offs; however, procurement is uniquely positioned to solve sustainability challenges while creating business value. 

Sustainability has become far more than a reporting requirement across healthcare and pharmaceutical supply chains. What was once largely viewed as an environmental issue is now influencing procurement decisions, supplier relationships, and operational planning.

The challenge is that the objectives procurement teams are being asked to balance do not always align.

Lower-carbon transportation options may require investment. Cost pressures often push in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, geopolitical instability, trade disruption, and supply chain shocks have reinforced the importance of resilience.

Decisions that improve one objective can often create challenges in another.

“The role of procurement is changing,” says Markas Azuolas, Environmental Sustainability Specialist at World Courier. “Procurement teams are increasingly part of how organizations translate environmental priorities into supplier engagement, sourcing decisions, and operational choices.

Why procurement is becoming central to the challenge

For many years, sustainability sat alongside procurement.

Today, procurement is one of the key functions where sustainability priorities are translated into sourcing decisions, supplier engagement, operational performance, and agility.

Industry analysis suggests Scope 3 emissions can account for more than 70% of total organizational emissions across many sectors, with supply chains representing the largest share of environmental impact.¹

Unlike Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which organizations can influence directly, Scope 3 sits across suppliers, transportation providers, logistics networks, and operational partners.

“We have Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which we directly control — what we burn, what we drive, what we emit,” explains Markas. “But Scope 3 is more challenging. It sits within the supply chain.”

For healthcare organizations operating globally, transportation often becomes one of the largest contributors.³

“What we see from our visible categories is that upstream transportation is one of the key drivers for us,” says Markas. “For a logistics provider like World Courier, transportation is where a meaningful share of emissions can originate. 

This means sustainability decisions now influence supplier selection, transportation strategies, sourcing decisions, and operational planning.

For procurement teams, the challenge is no longer whether sustainability should be considered. The challenge is how to incorporate it into everyday decision-making, in a cross-functional setting, while enabling savings and disruption-preparedness.

You can't reduce what you can't see

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is trying to reduce emissions before fully understanding where emissions exist.

Markas believes many organizations still focus on surface-level sustainability initiatives while overlooking the activities generating the greatest environmental impact.

“Not every sustainability investment addresses the largest emissions sources,” he says. “Organizations sometimes focus on things that are very visible, but when you look at the raw numbers, the actual emissions impact may be very small.”

This creates a practical challenge for procurement teams.

Where should they focus first?

Which suppliers contribute the largest share of emissions?

Which transportation routes create the greatest environmental impact?

Which interventions will deliver meaningful results rather than symbolic improvements?

Without reliable data, these decisions become difficult.

“If the data is incomplete, it can point you in the wrong direction,” says Markas. “Then later they realize emissions actually sit in completely different parts of Scope 3.”

The organizations making the greatest progress typically start by identifying emissions hotspots, understanding transportation impacts, and mapping the areas where operational changes can deliver the greatest return.

The trade-offs nobody can avoid

The challenge becomes particularly visible when discussing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

“SAF is a good example of the trade-offs procurement teams face: scaling lower-carbon logistics requires alignment on cost, service requirements, emissions accounting, and credible claims,” explains Markas.

For procurement teams, this highlights one of the central tensions in supply chain sustainability.

Lower-carbon transportation solutions can carry higher upfront costs. Traditional transportation options may appear more attractive financially in the short term. 

However, organizations are being asked to look beyond immediate procurement costs and consider longer-term exposure. Future carbon reporting requirements, customer expectations, regulatory obligations, and reputational considerations all have the potential to influence the total cost of inaction.²

At the same time, geopolitical instability continues to create uncertainty across global energy markets.

Some organizations are beginning to view sustainability investments as part of a broader resilience strategy, as well as an environmental decision. Reducing dependence on traditional fuel sources and exploring lower-carbon alternatives may help organizations prepare for future market volatility, disruption, and regulatory change.

This doesn't remove the cost challenge. But it does change the conversation.

The question becomes: “What is the most resilient and commercially-viable option over the long term?”

Where should procurement teams start?

“For many organizations, the first step is not setting ambitious emissions targets,” stated Devin Zeller, Senior Manager for Supplier Environmental Sustainability Engagement at Cencora. “It is first understanding where emissions sit across the supply chain and then building a program that can effectively influence supplier behavior. Only with that foundation can organizations drive meaningful emissions reductions at scale.”

Without that visibility, procurement teams risk investing time and resources in initiatives that deliver limited impact while larger emissions hotspots remain untouched.

Organizations making the greatest strides typically focus on five priorities:

1. Build visibility before setting targets

Develop a clear understanding of emissions across suppliers, transportation routes, and operational activities before committing to reduction programs.

2. Prioritize the largest hotspots

Focus first on suppliers and transportation activities responsible for the greatest share of emissions rather than spreading effort evenly across the supply chain.

3. Build a supplier-engagement program and set targets

Review the current levers in place to influence suppliers to reduce emissions and integrate your program into current procurement efforts. Assess the investment and feasibility of reaching targets before setting reduction targets.

4. Use emissions data in supplier conversations

Sustainability discussions are most effective when supported by evidence. Data can help identify practical opportunities for improvement and strengthen collaboration with suppliers and logistics partners.

5. Balance sustainability alongside cost and resilience

Rather than treating sustainability as a separate objective, leading organizations are evaluating environmental performance alongside commercial and operational considerations when making procurement decisions.

Turning sustainability data into operational decisions

As sustainability expectations continue to grow, procurement teams need more than visibility into emissions. They need actionable insight that can support day-to-day decision-making.

At World Courier, demand for transportation emissions reporting has increased significantly as organizations seek greater visibility into logistics-related emissions across complex global supply chains. Advances in data availability and reporting capabilities now provide a far more accurate picture of transportation-related emissions than was previously possible.

Rather than relying solely on generalized assumptions or industry averages, organizations can now access shipment-level and lane-specific activity-based emissions data to understand how logistics decisions influence environmental impact.

“We want to help our customers have a clearer baseline on their transportation emissions,” says Markas. “And then as partners, deliver together a data-based roadmap for decarbonization”

The value of that visibility extends well beyond reporting.

Procurement teams can use emissions data to compare transportation options, evaluate supplier performance, identify emissions hotspots, and understand where interventions are likely to deliver the greatest impact.

This allows organizations to move beyond broad sustainability commitments and make more informed decisions about supplier selection, transportation strategies, investment priorities, and long-term procurement planning.

Dedicated sustainability specialists, such as Markas, can also play an important role.

Access to data alone does not always create clarity. Organizations often need support interpreting emissions information, identifying priorities, and understanding how sustainability considerations can be balanced alongside cost and operational requirements.

By combining emissions data with operational expertise, organizations can move beyond measuring emissions and begin identifying practical opportunities for improvement.

“Estimates and averages can be useful starting points, but customers increasingly want more specific information to support better decisions," says Markas. 

The future belongs to organizations that can act

As sustainability becomes more deeply embedded within supply chain strategy, procurement's role will continue to evolve.

Organizations that succeed will not necessarily be those with the most ambitious sustainability statements.

They will be the organizations that can make informed operational decisions, supported by better data, stronger supplier collaboration, and a clearer understanding of where emissions sit.

“Many companies care, they commit, but they often face major roadblocks in executing,” says Markas.

For procurement teams, execution begins with visibility.

As sustainability expectations continue to grow, the organizations that create competitive advantage will be those that integrate emissions intelligence into everyday procurement decisions. The leaders will be those that turn insight into action.