Hold true to your green procurement vow. Or the divorce could be painful.

Thinking about ditching your plans to buy green? Your peers in Europe aren't budging.

A recent study by the supply chain consultancy BrainNet found that 63 percent of close to 50 European companies included in the sample said the global economic crisis was not threatening their green or sustainable procurement programs. These companies see these initiatives as key to aligning themselves more closer with their customers—and with establishing themselves as "best performers" or "pragmatists" against their peer group.

The analyst who compiled the study results and wrote the report detailing the, called "Green and Sustainable Procurement Today - A Perspective on Leading European Companies," noted that businesses that don't have sustainable procurement on their management agendas could face challenges over the next two to three years. Having the cheapest route to market could prove a very expensive proposition if a legal challenge finds environmental issues with that process, the report suggests.

So, it's one of those tradeoff things: The most forward-thinking managers are hunkering down and managing costs elsewhere in order to prepare themslves for a new playing field in the next decade. Here are the main drivers of these initiatives, according to the survey (which was published by the Supply Chain Management Institute of the European Business School):

1. Customer Demand
2. Regulation
3. Top Management Committee
4. Pollution Prevention and Cost Reduction
5. Supplier's Advances

Here's the press release with more information about the study.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com