This year was a test for supply chains. Would efforts to build agility hold up against disruptions of supply and volatile demand? Could supply chains rework physical processes to keep workers safe and operations moving? Could they keep pre-planned projects on the rails amid the chaos?

Efforts to decrease emissions and rein in other elements of sustainability within supply chains fall under that third uncertainty. After all, 2020 was the year many initial emissions reduction goals met their deadline.

Though not a universal phenomenon, sustainability goals, on the whole, made it through 2020.

In fact, digital tools to track emissions data came in handy as supplier performance faltered early in the pandemic. Unilever's CSCO said increased emphasis on supplier resilience and tools to monitor it contributed to the company's effort to meet its sustainability goals.

Here is a collection of stories detailing how companies managed to keep their progress toward a more sustainable supply chain on track in 2020, and in some cases, how they moved forward despite disruption.