Sustainable Supply Chain Management and SDG 13: A Climate Action Perspective Risk mitigation and adaptation strategies in global logistics

Abstract

The ever-increasing awareness of the climate change crisis, marked by Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13: Climate Action), has put more and more pressure on the need to make global supply chains sustainable and offset the risks posed by environmental disruption. As resource demanding and emissions intensive systems, global logistics networks are susceptible to specific climate-related risks (e.g., extreme weather patterns, increasing fuel prices, and regulatory changes). This article investigates the extent to which sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and SDG 13 go hand in hand with regard to risk management and adaptation in logistics. An overview of similar literature suggests the frameworks of carbon cutting, renewable energy exploitation, the inclusion of a circular economy, and a robust-resilient infrastructure. The mixed approach to the proposed methodology will integrate secondary data as provided in academic and industry reports and a conceptually based risk adaptation model of supply chains. The results indicate that the companies that combine sustainability models with digital technologies (IoT, AI, blockchain) increase their resilience and decrease carbon footprints. A comparative examination shows that proactive climate adaptation policies are more cost-effective and sustainable, compared with the reactive policies. There are however practical constraints in practice because green infrastructure has not been evenly implemented across the world and there are regulatory differences across countries. Future trends include the need to create common climate-resistant logistical norms, green technologies, and climate responsibility as a component of international trade agreements.