Snow in Texas. Wildfires, tsunamis and heatwaves— all of this plus shipping containers, air freight and exports being sent and seen around the world.
That makes anyone wonder exactly how much carbon dioxide is emitted into our air per gallon of diesel burned? Well, the U.S. EPA says 22.461 pounds. As it stands, climate change is an inevitable challenge the supply chain faces.
Though dealing with climate change is unavoidable, supply chain companies and industry professionals have an undeniable chance to combat its effects. But tree-planting events, recycling programs and sustainable packing strategies are just a mere starting point.
Reducing your emissions is key. End-to-end visibility is key. Not only for eco-friendly practices but for your bottom line. But you can’t, no matter how hard you try, reduce emissions unless you measure it.
You can monitor the pulse of your supply chain emissions using tools like the FourKites sustainability dashboard. Putting a plan in place to reduce emissions should be a central part of any green strategy.
Going Green, But on a Global Level
Our planet is getting smaller. Not physically, but we’re able to communicate differently, easier. Which should make it easy for countries to come together and make an impact. In fact, European companies were surveyed by Fourkites, a leader in supply chain visibility.
The data found that business leaders there are already getting a head start on their sustainability plans.
- Over 80% indicated they were increasing or maintaining their sustainability commitments.
- About 50% of respondents cited real-time supply chain visibility data as an essential part of identifying and hitting sustainability objectives.
- 41% of respondents have trouble measuring their impact on sustainability.
Some say, “green business is good business”. It couldn’t be more true. We’re predicting that those who take sustainability seriously now, will still be in operation and making revenue in 2042. Those who chose to ignore the issue will soon find themselves lost in a figurative congested port.
Supply Chain Collaboration for Sustainability
There was an underlying theme at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The message? Sustainability isn’t only assigned to political leaders. Companies need to step up and take charge.
As a response to this and climate change, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ordered that all vessels reduce emissions by half, and by the year 2050. Several fuel-efficient programs would need to be implemented over the next decade to meet these goals, because ships have a 20- to 25-year lifetime. It’s possible, but the required technologies would need to be honed in faster, at a higher scale, and at a lower cost.
With various kinds of micro-mobility and zero-emission (ZE) cars, buses, and light commercial vehicles, the decarbonization of transportation has come a long way in many countries. Despite this, medium- and heavy-duty trucks (MDTs and HDTs) have been lagging behind. Currently, road freight accounts for 53 percent of global trade-related emissions, and if current trends continue, that’s going to rise to 56 percent by 2050—right when IMO plans to half their emission outputs.
Despite recent technological advancements that have put a low-carbon truck future within reach, increasing collaboration across the value chain will be necessary to succeed. A new initiative by the World Economic Forum (WEF) called Road Freight Zero (RFZ) aims to help companies join forces and develop solutions. Participants include manufacturers of consumer goods, logistics companies, fleet operators, energy, technology, and infrastructure firms, innovators, finance companies, academic institutions, and civil society organizations.
Multimodal Solution
So what is the solution supply chain leaders are so badly seeking for sustainability efforts?
According to the same FourKites survey, 67% of respondents said the biggest struggle they had was end-to-end tracking of their goals.
Luckily, Fourkites’ visibility platform provides the solution to reduce emissions and your carbon footprint, giving you the ability to understand and identify your waste through data.
Customers can use the platform to see the environmental impact of their supply chain operations.
Keep Your Supply Chain Business Going for 20 More Years with Sustainability Plans
Emissions are a part of supply chain. It’s unavoidable. But since it’s easier to collaborate with and partner for the greater, greener good, reducing emissions from supply chain operations is possible.You can now be a part of the global green supply chain! The world’s largest virtual event that focuses on the supply chain environmental impact is happening SOON! You can tune into engaging panel discussions, presentations, and perspectives all on sustainability. We’ll be there! Will you?
