B4SI contributes to the World Economic Forum Report on the State of Social Procurement — for the Second Year Running

B4SI is proud to have contributed, for the second consecutive year, to the World Economic Forum’s State of Social Procurement 2026 report- a key global reference on how procurement is evolving to address social risk and create shared value.

The report is a collaborative initiative led by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, bringing together 21 global organisations committed to advancing the social procurement movement. The 2026 report marks a significant step forward, introducing new data on social issues in global value chains, strengthening the business case for social procurement, tracking regulatory developments, and showcasing how a rapidly maturing ecosystem is delivering impact across more than 10 countries.

You can read the full collection of insights and case studies here, or skip straight to B4SI’s contribution.

Beyond Human Rights: Expanding the Social Risk Lens

One message comes through clearly in this year’s report, and it strongly reflects what we see in our work with businesses globally:

Human rights risks in supply chains are critical. But they are not the only social risks organisations need to manage. Between January 2023 and October 2025, social issues such as labour unrest, protests and worker demonstrations were the second-largest source of global supply chain disruption, accounting for 18% of all disruptions. These challenges directly affect resilience, operational continuity and licence to operate, reinforcing the need for social factors to be treated as material business risks that demand the same level of rigour as environmental and governance issues

With around two-thirds of a company’s potential for positive or negative impact sitting within its supply chain, a compliance-driven approach centred exclusively around risk mitigation leaves both significant exposure— and significant opportunity — unaddressed.

Procurement is emerging as a strategic driver for businesses

In this context, more organisations are recognising the power of procurement to drive positive impact while reducing social risk. With FTSE 100 procurement budgets more than 400 times larger than CSR budgets, even modest shifts in spend can generate outsized impact.

Measuring what matters: Impact

As social risks are increasingly identified as material to business performance, measurement becomes the bridge between intention and real-world outcomes. Tracking spend alone cannot tell leaders whether social risks are being reduced, resilience is improving, or long‑term value is being created. The shift toward social procurement as a strategic lever within the business requires an equally strategic approach to measurement of its impact.

B4SI’s contribution to the 2026 report highlights the critical role credible impact measurement plays in enabling companies to:

• Build trust and strengthen social licence to operate
• Drive innovation and performance by embedding insight into procurement decision-making
• Demonstrate resilience and secure access to capital by aligning with emerging disclosure expectations, including TISFD, TNFD and CSRD

Moving theory to practice we’re pleased to also include practical case studies from B4SI members SAP, Stockland and PwC, showcasing how they have embedding social procurement as a core driver of sustainable value creation.

The use of B4SI provides a holistic suite of supports to ensure decision useful data for businesses intentionally diverting procurement spend towards suppliers who create clearly defined and demonstrable social impact. For more information about B4SI and to access dedicated guidance, please contact us to enquire about joining the network.