Climate-Resilient Supply Chains

As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, the global supply chain is vulnerable to major disruptions from unanticipated events, yet no threat to the functioning of essential supply chains looms larger than the growing number of extreme weather events resulting from climate change.

Indeed, the characteristics of today's supply chains - their dependence on shipping and air transport, specialized inputs sourced from specific locations spread worldwide, and reduced inventories tied to just-in-time production - make them especially vulnerable to disruption from climate risks.

With the goal of protecting global trade worth almost $20 trillion annually against such disruptions, supply chain executives and researchers who study global supply chains are now starting to focus on ways of increasing supply chain resilience in a world buffeted by climate change.

To explore ongoing efforts to create climate-resilient supply chains, the Science and Technology for Sustainability program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, held a two-day virtual workshop on September 27-28, 2021.