Supply Chain Due Diligence in 2026: Key Trends, Risks, and Priorities for Sustainability Leaders
Tomas Novotny
Solutions Expert
27 Jan 2026
About 4 mins
Supply chain due diligence is entering a new phase in 2026. With regulatory expectations evolving and social and environmental risks increasing, companies are being pushed beyond compliance toward demonstrable impact.
Based on insights from global sustainability market research and supply chain risk data, this article outlines the key supply chain due diligence trends, emerging human rights and environmental risks, and practical priorities procurement and sustainability professionals should focus on in 2026.
What Is Driving Supply Chain Due Diligence in 2026?
Supply chain due diligence in 2026 is being driven by three converging forces:
1. Regulatory pressure, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws
2. Rising litigation and enforcement, particularly related to forced labour and import bans
3. Business risk, as climate disruption and geopolitical instability expose fragile supply chains
While political and regulatory uncertainty remains in some regions, companies are not retreating. Instead, they are investing in more robust, defensible due diligence systems that integrate sustainability into procurement and risk management.
Key Supply Chain Due Diligence Trends for 2026
Due diligence is moving beyond Tier One suppliers
Companies are expanding visibility deeper into their supply chains, recognising that the most severe risks often sit beyond direct suppliers.
- Risk-based mapping of indirect suppliers is becoming standard practice
- Audits and assessments are increasingly conducted beyond tier one
- Procurement teams are expected to justify how and why certain risks are prioritised
Human rights and environmental risks are increasing, including in traditionally tower risk regions
Human rights risks are no longer confined to traditionally high-risk geographies.
Common risks identified across global supply chains include excessive working hours, wage non-compliance, health and safety failures, and responsible recruitment risks linked to migrant and temporary labour.
A significant proportion of high-risk sites are in Europe and North America, challenging assumptions that strong regulation alone prevents harm.
Forced labour risk requires earlier detection
Forced labour remains one of the most complex risks to identify and address.
Leading companies are shifting from reactive audits to earlier warning approaches that identify patterns such as excessive overtime, wage withholding or debt, abusive living or working conditions, and weak grievance or management systems.
This enables companies to intervene earlier, reducing harm to workers and exposure to legal and reputational risk.
Supplier capability gaps remain a critical challenge
While expectations on buying companies continue to increase, supplier readiness remains uneven.
Many suppliers have not yet adopted a human rights due diligence approach aligned with international standards. Policy gaps persist, particularly around modern slavery and child labour, and many suppliers lack dedicated resources responsible for due diligence implementation.
This has increased focus on supplier engagement, training, and long term capability building, rather than relying solely on compliance based approaches.
Environmental and social risks are closely linked
Environmental and human rights risks frequently share the same underlying causes, including production pressure, weak management systems, and underinvestment in compliance.
Sites with environmental non compliances often also show weaknesses in health and safety and labour management. These patterns highlight the limitations of managing sustainability risks in isolation and reinforce the need for more integrated approaches.
From systems to outcomes
After years of building policies, processes, and reporting frameworks, companies are increasingly expected to demonstrate that due diligence systems are effective in practice.
This includes showing how risks are prioritised, how suppliers are engaged and supported, and how conditions improve over time. Data quality, traceability, and accountability are becoming central to credible due diligence.
What This Means for Procurement and Sustainability Teams in 2026
To respond to rising expectations and increasing risk, companies should prioritise:
- Strengthening risk-based supply chain mapping beyond Tier One
- Integrating human rights and environmental data across internal systems
- Supporting supplier capability and continuous improvement
- Using early warning indicators to identify forced labour risk
- Aligning sustainability efforts with procurement and enterprise risk management
- Preparing to demonstrate real world outcomes, not just compliance
From Due Diligence to Resilient Supply Chains
The experience of recent years has shown that due diligence is no longer a box ticking exercise. As regulatory and stakeholder expectations continue to rise, companies that embed human rights and environmental due diligence into procurement, supplier relationships, and risk management will be better positioned to build resilient and responsible supply chains in 2026 and beyond.
How Sedex Supports Supply Chain Due Diligence
Sedex helps companies identify, prioritise, and manage human rights and environmental risks across global supply chains. Through supply chain mapping, risk data, and audit insights, Sedex enables organisations to move beyond compliance toward measurable outcomes.
