Climate & Environment
Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier N Suppliers
The layers of suppliers below the direct contractor — where visibility fades and most sustainability risk concentrates.
Definition
Supplier tiers describe distance from the buyer: tier 1 suppliers contract directly with the company; tier 2 supply the tier 1s (fabric mills to garment factories, component makers to assemblers); tier 3 and beyond reach back to processors and raw material producers (spinners, farms, mines). Sustainability risk rises steeply with tier depth: labour abuses cluster in tiers 2–4, and deforestation, water and emissions impacts concentrate at raw material origin — precisely where buyers have least visibility and leverage.
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