Sustainability news of March 2026

Insights to inspire, act, share & inform

Welcome back to ‘Sustainability in motion’. In this edition, we cover:

Inspire – Sustain 2026: Rising importance of sustainable supply chains and data quality
Educate – How Science Based Targets help your global reporting strategy
Share – B Corp month: Our community & expertise as a B Way Partner
News – EU taxonomy update: Draft amendments open for consultation

Still chasing suppliers for ESG data? Here’s what Sustain 2026 made clear

We started March with a very important milestone: Our 8th time joining EcoVadis #Sustain. Our team joined roundtables, gave panels and connected with like-minded leaders.

2026 had a pretty clear message: Responsible supply chains are shifting from individual programmes to shared systems, making progress easier to deliver.

Collective action is becoming the default

Sector initiatives are reducing supplier fatigue: fewer duplicated asks, more consistent expectations, and more time spent on actual improvement (not questionnaires).

Human rights due diligence is getting sharper

The direction of travel is moving away from “who filled in the most forms” and towards meaningful processes, evidence, and outcomes—plus a growing focus on remedy and accountability.

Scope 3 progress is happening where buyers actually help suppliers

The most compelling decarbonisation examples weren’t just about better measurement—they were about capability-building, co-innovation, and enabling mechanisms that make action possible (not just targets).

AI is raising the bar (so your data can’t be messy anymore)

AI can reduce friction in sustainability work, but it amplifies whatever data governance you already have. Clear ownership, traceability, and consistent evidence are now the real “performance unlocks.”

Resilience is the new north star

Sustainability is increasingly being framed as systems thinking: interconnected risks, stronger governance, and trust as a real performance multiplier (faster disclosure, faster improvement).

Quick spotlight: Strategic Partner recognition

At the Partner Summit, EcoVadis signalled tighter tiering and a higher delivery bar for partners. Nexio Projects was recognised as an EcoVadis Strategic Partner, reflecting a focus on practical transformation and measurable outcomes.

In practice, strategic partners go further than just “getting the submission right,” but building a repeatable improvement engine across performance, supplier engagement, and governance.

Learn more: Strategic vs core partners—what’s the difference?

Let’s take these insights into 2026 strategies!

How Science Based Targets help your global reporting strategy

If your climate reporting is starting to feel like a multi-framework obstacle course with regulatory requirements, investor asks, customer questionnaires, you’re not imagining it.

The good news: Science Based Targets can make this simpler, because they force the same foundations that regulators and assurance teams increasingly expect.

Here are the key takeaways on how SBTs strengthen your global reporting strategy:

1) One baseline to rule them all

A science-based target isn’t just a statement. The work behind it starts with a robust GHG inventory and clear boundary-setting, exactly what you need for consistent Scope 1, 2 and (increasingly) Scope 3 reporting across geographies.

The practical win: Fewer contradictions across reports, RFIs, and filings, because you’re building from one source of truth.

2) They make reporting more “audit-friendly”

As assurance expectations rise, “we’re working on it” doesn’t hold up unless it’s backed by traceable calculations, defined methodologies, and documentation you can defend.

SBTi target-setting pushes that discipline: Assumptions, emissions coverage, target logic, and the evidence trail that makes your climate disclosures credible under scrutiny.

3) They help you align to CSRD (ESRS E1) without reinventing the wheel

Under ESRS E1, if you choose to set climate targets, they need to be science-based and aligned with the Paris Agreement. SBTi provides a ready-made framework to structure those targets and the supporting baseline.

Translation: SBTs help turn “targets” from a vague ambition into something you can actually disclose cleanly (and consistently) alongside your transition plan, energy mix, and emissions metrics.

4) Scope 3: progress now, perfection later

Scope 3 is where reporting strategies struggle, usually because teams wait for perfect supplier data. But SBTi doesn’t require perfection to start. A complete inventory can include estimations and extrapolations (as long as it’s methodologically sound and documented).

The upside: you can build momentum, start supplier engagement earlier, and improve data quality iteratively, rather than delaying your whole reporting roadmap.

5) It’s a smart hedge against what’s coming next

SBTi is preparing a major update to its Corporate Net-Zero Standard (Version 2 expected in 2026), including proposals like mandatory transition plans and a cyclical validation approach.

So even if your reporting requirements shift again (and they will), SBTs help you build a repeatable system: inventory quality, governance, and planning, that’s designed to evolve.

Our climate and reporting experts talk about this, watch now:

Quick checklist

What to do differently if you want SBTs to really support reporting:

Start with governance, not just calculations (ownership, sign-off, documentation trail)
Model scenarios before picking target types (so targets remain achievable and defensible)
Don’t let Scope 3 data gaps stall you—document assumptions and improve over time
Plan around timelines: validation and review cycles can impact disclosure deadlines

Bottom line: Science Based Targets are becoming less of a “climate badge” and more of a reporting backbone. They help you build the inventory, documentation, and target structure that make global disclosure consistent, credible, and ready for assurance.

B Corp month: Our community & expertise as a B Way Partner

B Corp Month is our annual reminder that impact isn’t a campaign, it’s a way of operating.

As a Certified B Corp and a B Corp Way Partner since 2019, we spent March doing what we believe the movement is about: Building community, sharing practical knowledge, and helping organisations turn purpose into measurable progress.

Here are a few highlights from this month:

Community in action: B Corps in South Holland

We’re proud to help grow the B Corps in South Holland community, because local collaboration is where ambition turns into action. This month, we brought that to life by joining forces with Maas Cleanup in Rotterdam: a hands-on initiative that connects current and aspiring B Corps, creates visible local impact, and strengthens relationships across purpose-driven organisations. Real work, real progress, together.

B Corp is a journey, and we’re in it with our clients

B Corp certification is rarely “one-and-done.” It’s an ongoing process of strengthening governance, evidence, and impact across the business. As a B Way Partner, we support organisations end-to-end with:

Eligibility and feasibility scans
Shaping the business case
Assessment support
Roadmaps and longer-term transformation.

This month, we shared what we’ve seen firsthand: Progress gets easier when teams have a clear plan, strong internal ownership, and the right evidence in place.

Watch: Client story video

A movement that’s evolving and raising the bar

To close out the month, we’re highlighting a big shift: Recertification under the new B Corp standards.

The direction is clear: higher expectations, more rigour, and minimum requirements across non-negotiable impact topics. That’s a good thing. It strengthens trust in the certification and rewards organisations doing the hard work to embed impact into strategy and operations.

Our headline takeaway

B Corp Month is about multiplying impact through community and credible action. Whether it’s building a local network, supporting organisations through certification, or navigating what’s next in the standards, our focus stays the same: Practical support that helps impact stick.

Are you preparing for 2027 EU Taxonomy reporting?

On 17 March 2026, the European Commission opened a public consultation on draft revisions to the EU Taxonomy Climate and Environmental Delegated Acts (open until 14 April 2026). The proposed changes are intended to apply from 1 January 2027 and will impact all CSRD and EU Taxonomy in-scope companies.

The review is particularly relevant for organisations active in waste management and circular economy, energy, manufacturing, construction, transport, and forestry, as technical screening criteria across these areas are being reassessed.

Key proposals

Simplified DNSH criteria across activities (reducing documentation burden)
Clearer, more proportionate technical screening criteria, with updated references to current EU legislation
No changes proposed for GHG thresholds and substantive criteria for high-emitting activities