What Happened at Sustainability LIVE: The US Summit 2026
Global sustainability and procurement leaders are increasingly operating in an environment defined by climate volatility, supply chain fragility and accelerating technological change.
As organisations move from ambition to execution, the focus is shifting towards measurable decarbonisation, resilient sourcing and AI-enabled transformation.
The Sustainability LIVE: The US Summit 2026 brought these priorities together, uniting senior decision-makers from across sustainability, procurement and supply chain functions.
It serves as a key platform for organisations aiming to embed sustainability into their core business strategy.
Held on 21â22 April 2026 at Navy Pier in Chicago, the event returned alongside Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE: The US Summit, creating a co-located forum where sustainability and operational performance converge.
What is the US Summit?
The programme reflects how interconnected sustainability has become with procurement, supply chain design and enterprise risk.
âChicago for me is a city that didnât just build the legacy of the American supply chain, it invented it,â says Glen White, CEO of BizClik, the publisher behind Sustainability Magazine, in the opening statement.
Across sectors, organisations such as PepsiCo, Walmart, Google, Dell Technologies, Vodafone, General Motors, Siemens, Coupa, Ivalua, EcoVadis and Ecolab are shaping discussions on emissions reduction, transparency and digital transformation.
The summit is designed around action-oriented learning, bringing together more than 1,000 attendees, 50+ speakers, 10 content tracks and executive workshops focused on implementation.
Across the agenda, discussions spanned AI in procurement and sustainability, Scope 3 emissions management, circular economy design, water stewardship and global decarbonisation pathways.
Leadership perspectives from organisations such as Booking Holdings, where Kate Heiny serves as Vice President of Sustainability, and HH Global, where Kathy Presto is Chief Procurement Officer, reinforced the importance of cross-functional collaboration in delivering measurable impact.
Insights are further supported by risk and analytics perspectives from RapidRatings, led by James Gellert, and supply chain transformation expertise from Aeva, represented by Abhijit Supekar, alongside planning and operations perspectives from Kraft Heinz, where LaĂs Piccinini Doi focused on S&OP.
"We have managed to gather some of the worldâs leading thinkers, involving incredible speakers and very strong panels that include orchestrated subject matters," says Glen.
What happened on day one
Day one on the Sustainability Stage centred on scaling innovation and system-wide transformation.
The programme included the Nature-Based Solutions panel, sponsored by Veritree, focusing on reforestation, regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration as scalable climate strategies.
The Innovation & Tech panel, sponsored by Budderfly, explored how AI, automation and digital platforms are reshaping sustainability performance, from emissions tracking to energy optimisation.
"Technology and data is vital, AI can allow for our team to think, react and see around the corners ahead of time," says Glen.
The day also featured the Global Decarbonisation Strategies panel, where leaders from across industry examine pathways to net zero across energy, transport, manufacturing and global supply chains.
"I know the world needs to decarbonise and hopefully over the next two days we will listen to companies who arenât just saying theyâre going to do it with empty promises," adds Glen.
"The people in the room today are talking about proof, theyâre talking about multi-year programmes through to 2030 and 2040."
Across these sessions, organisations such as EcoVadis, Google, Siemens and Dell Technologies contributed perspectives on measurement, accountability and scalable climate action.
Inside day two
Day two focused on operational execution and resource resilience, with a strong emphasis on water, circularity and supply chain integration.
"Resilience in our operations keeps the world turning; we are the infrastructure," says Glen.
A key highlight was the Water Sustainability Summit panel, sponsored by Ecolab, which addressed water stewardship, replenishment strategies and industrial efficiency in response to increasing global water stress.
The day was built on themes of transparency and collaboration across supply networks, reflecting findings such as those from Achilles, which showed that only a small proportion of organisations have full visibility across Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers.
Sessions also explored how procurement and sustainability functions are increasingly converging, with companies like Vodafone, ABB, Deliveroo and Coupa emphasising the importance of supplier engagement, risk visibility and long-term resilience.
The second day ultimately reinforced the shift from sustainability planning to sustained delivery across global operations.