Climate change necessitates a shift to resilient, sustainable supply chains
Category: Resource Management · Effect: Strong effect · Year: 2023
The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events due to climate change are significantly disrupting global supply chains, demanding a strategic overhaul towards climate-change resilient and sustainable management practices.
Design Takeaway
Integrate climate change risk assessment and mitigation strategies into the design and management of supply chains to ensure product availability and minimize environmental and social impact.
Why It Matters
Designers and engineers must consider the environmental and societal impacts of their product's entire lifecycle, including its supply chain. Understanding and mitigating climate-related risks is crucial for ensuring the long-term viability and ethical operation of any product or service.
Key Finding
Research shows a clear and increasing need to integrate climate change considerations into supply chain management to build resilience and ensure long-term sustainability.
Key Findings
- There is a growing research interest in the intersection of climate change and supply chain risk management.
- Existing supply chain practices are insufficient to address the escalating impacts of climate change.
- A proactive and comprehensive approach to supply chain risk management is essential for resilience and sustainability.
Research Evidence
Aim: How can supply chain management be adapted to mitigate the risks posed by climate change and ensure sustainability?
Method: Systematic literature review and network analysis
Procedure: A comprehensive review of 699 publications from 2003-2022 was conducted using the SCOPUS database to analyze trends in climate change and supply chain risk management, leading to the development of a guiding framework for future research.
Sample Size: 699 publications
Context: Global supply chain management, climate change adaptation
Design Principle
Design for supply chain resilience and sustainability by proactively addressing climate-related risks.
How to Apply
When designing a new product or service, map its entire supply chain and identify potential climate-related vulnerabilities (e.g., reliance on regions prone to drought for raw materials, transportation routes susceptible to flooding). Develop contingency plans and explore alternative sourcing or logistics options.
Limitations
The review focuses on existing literature and may not capture all emerging practices or localized impacts.
Student Guide (IB Design Technology)
Simple Explanation: Climate change is making supply chains (how things are made and delivered) unreliable. We need to design them to be tougher and more environmentally friendly.
Why This Matters: Understanding supply chain vulnerabilities helps you design products that can actually be made and delivered, while also being responsible to the environment and society.
Critical Thinking: To what extent can a single design project truly influence the resilience of a global supply chain, and what are the ethical considerations when a supply chain's vulnerability impacts vulnerable communities?
IA-Ready Paragraph: The increasing impacts of climate change, characterized by more frequent and intense extreme weather events, pose significant risks to global supply chains. As highlighted by Yun and Ülkü (2023), traditional supply chain management approaches are inadequate. Therefore, design projects must proactively incorporate strategies for climate-change resilient and sustainable supply chain management, considering the environmental, economic, and social pillars of sustainability to ensure long-term viability and responsible production.
Project Tips
- When researching materials, consider their origin and the climate risks associated with that region.
- Think about how your product's packaging and transportation might be affected by extreme weather.
How to Use in IA
- Reference this study when discussing the environmental context and potential risks to your chosen design project's supply chain.
Examiner Tips
- Demonstrate an understanding of the broader environmental and societal context impacting design choices, particularly supply chain resilience.
Independent Variable: Climate change impacts (e.g., extreme weather events)
Dependent Variable: Supply chain resilience and sustainability
Controlled Variables: Supply chain management strategies, economic factors, environmental regulations
Strengths
- Comprehensive literature review covering a significant time span.
- Development of a guiding framework for future research.
Critical Questions
- What are the most critical climate-related risks for the specific supply chain of my design project?
- How can I design for adaptability within the supply chain to mitigate these identified risks?
Extended Essay Application
- An Extended Essay could explore the development of a specific tool or methodology for assessing climate risks within a particular industry's supply chain, using this paper as a foundational theoretical framework.
Source
Sustainable Supply Chain Risk Management in a Climate-Changed World: Review of Extant Literature, Trend Analysis, and Guiding Framework for Future Research · Sustainability · 2023 · 10.3390/su151713199