Supply chain

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the management of supply chains are closely interwoven. To achieve the 17 SDGs, we must examine every aspect of society and business, including how goods are produced, transported, and consumed. In this context, supply chain operations have a significant role to play in both contributing to and solving many of the challenges encapsulated within the SDGs.

The supply chain directly affects SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production. The way supply chains are managed can significantly influence the quality of jobs, especially in developing nations where many production activities are outsourced. Employers should ensure decent working conditions, fair wages, and the prohibition of child or forced labor. On the production front, organizations should commit to resource-efficient and cleaner production methods, minimizing environmental impact, reducing waste, and ensuring sustainable sourcing practices.

Supply chains also play a key role in tackling climate change (SDG 13). Transitioning towards low-carbon supply chains, improving energy efficiency, and investing in renewable energy technologies can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Moreover, supply chains can impact SDG 2, Zero Hunger, and SDG 3, Good Health and Well-being, depending on their operation in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. Ensuring the safe, efficient, and equitable distribution of food and medical products can help eradicate hunger and ensure health and well-being.

From a gender equality perspective (SDG 5), businesses can strive for equal representation in all parts of their supply chain, ensuring women have the same employment opportunities as men. Meanwhile, SDG 16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, also finds a place in supply chain operations. Here, businesses must act against corruption, bribery, and other unethical practices, promoting transparency and accountability in all their transactions.

In essence, sustainable and responsible supply chain management is an effective approach for businesses to contribute substantially to the SDGs. By aligning their strategies with these goals, businesses can bring about positive change, enhance their brand reputation, and gain a competitive edge, all while contributing to a more sustainable and equitable world.

Over the past decade, raw material price spikes have called attention to the supply security of a variety of critical materials, including rhenium, rare earth elements, and helium. While market forces play an important role in creating and resolving these situations, transitions in technology also create step-changes in demand that increase or decrease the criticality of different materials. With an appropriate understanding of how materials are used in various applications, it is possible to explore the critical materials implications associated with the introduction of new technologies.
Elsevier, Sustainable Materials and Technologies, Volume 15, April 2018
As the technologies we use as a society have advanced, so have the materials used in these technologies. Some of these materials are exotic and highly specialized, making them particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions and supply disruptions particularly impactful. Such materials are designated as “critical” materials. Their level of criticality can be identified by accounting for a number of factors related to their supply risk and the extent to which a supply disruption would impact business operations or society at large.
Elsevier, Sustainable Materials and Technologies, Volume 15, April 2018
According to the reports on critical raw materials for the EU, a raw material is considered critical if it has a high economic importance to the EU combined with high supply risk. Supply risk is considered to arise from a combination of several factors, namely a high concentration of production in countries with poor governance, limited material substitutability, and poor end-of-life recycling rates. A number of industry activities, policy initiatives and research projects have recently been initiated in Europe with the aim to secure an adequate supply of raw materials.
Elsevier, Sustainable Materials and Technologies, Volume 15, April 2018
As the technologies we use as a society have advanced, so have the materials used in these technologies. Some of these materials are exotic and highly specialized, making them particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions and supply disruptions particularly impactful. Such materials are designated as “critical” materials. Their level of criticality can be identified by accounting for a number of factors related to their supply risk and the extent to which a supply disruption would impact business operations or society at large.
Over the past decade, raw material price spikes have called attention to the supply security of a variety of critical materials, including rhenium, rare earth elements, and helium. While market forces play an important role in creating and resolving these situations, transitions in technology also create step-changes in demand that increase or decrease the criticality of different materials. With an appropriate understanding of how materials are used in various applications, it is possible to explore the critical materials implications associated with the introduction of new technologies.
The authors examine the ways in which miriti fruits are harvested, traded and consumed, and highlight the social and economic benefits that they bring to local communities.
Social impact
At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday 24 January, Theresa May called on shareholders to put pressure on the companies they invest in to improve their "social impact" supporting goal 10 (reduced inequalities) and goal 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
Food retailers and manufacturers are increasingly committing to address agricultural sustainability issues in their supply chains. In place of using established eco-certifications, many companies define their own supply chain sustainability standards. Scholars remain divided on whether we should expect such company-led programs to affect change. We use a major food retailer as a critical case to evaluate the effectiveness of a company-led supply chain standard in improving environmental farm management practices.
Furthering SDGs 8 and 17, this report explores partnerships and progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the business community in Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes key findings from a report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as data from participants of the UN Global Compact.
Stop corruption
Substantially reducing corruption and bribery in all forms is a target of goal 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). This blog reviews the rise of anti-foreign bribery legislation in the 20 years since the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention was signed by 43 states and countries.

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