Achilles Launches Global Energy Community in Latin America

Supply chain risk management company Achilles has launched the “Global Energy Community for Latin America”, a regional network designed to promote more sustainable, transparent and competitive energy supply chains across the region. The initiative connects more than 80 buyers with over 10,000 suppliers and is intended to support energy markets from Mexico to Peru. The official launch took place in Mexico City on Jan. 14, 2026. 

The formal presentation of the Global Energy Community was led by Nicolás Avellaneda, Achilles’ regional director for Latin America, and Rafael Araujo, sales director. They outlined the platform’s main benefits, including access to a verified registry of buyers and suppliers, tools to assess and mitigate supply chain risks, standardized processes to improve internal efficiency, and enhanced ESG performance.

The event also featured presentations on market trends, a live demonstration of the Achilles platform, and discussions on how the community can support business models for both buyers and suppliers. Several thematic sessions addressed strategic priorities for the sector, including collaboration as a driver of resilient energy supply chains, equality and inclusion as pillars of sustainability, the strategic value of the Global Energy Community, and innovation as a competitiveness factor.

Innovation and technology adoption were also highlighted during the event. Erick Emanuel Luna Rojero, executive director in the Research Division of the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP), discussed how new technologies, innovative processes and sustainability criteria are becoming increasingly decisive for competitiveness in Mexico’s energy sector. He noted that organizations that integrate these elements are better positioned to adapt to regulatory, market and environmental pressures.

A  Shift to Extract Value from ESG Due Diligence

Speaking to MBN, Avellaneda offered guidance to companies considering the integration of ESG-focused due diligence into their operations. “The key lies in shifting from a reactive to a more proactive mindset. Many companies in the region tend to respond only once a requirement or trend becomes unavoidable,” he said.

Avellaneda noted that this pattern became evident during the recent crackdown on abusive outsourcing practices and invoice fraud. “When regulatory changes and the REPSE framework were introduced, the first year passed with limited enforcement, and many companies adopted a wait-and-see approach. Only when penalties became tangible did behavior begin to change,” he said. “In that sense, value creation through due diligence often starts when leading players in each sector take it seriously and embed it into their commercial decisions, not just their compliance frameworks.”

He added that even in the absence of strong government mandates, companies are increasingly translating high-level sustainability commitments into concrete practices that influence supplier selection. “Many of our clients already integrate ESG due diligence into their supplier evaluation processes without regulatory pressure. Others did not need public policy to start, because ESG considerations were already embedded in their corporate culture,” Avellaneda said.

He also pointed to the financial sector as a key driver of change. “Major banks are now systematically incorporating ESG criteria into project financing decisions. This is gradually but steadily influencing corporate behavior, as access to capital becomes increasingly tied to ESG performance,” he said.