کاهش انتشار گازهای گلخانه ای از طریق عملیات و مدیریت زنجیره تامین

The experiences of the largest corporation in the world and those of a start-up company show how companies can profitably reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains. The operations management literature suggests additional opportunities to profitably reduce emissions in existing supply chains, and provides guidance for expanding the capacity of new “zero emission” supply chains. The potential for companies to profitably reduce emissions is substantial but (without effective climate policy) likely insufficient to avert dangerous climate change.

In December 2011, at the climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, representatives of 190 countries agreed upon the need to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5 or 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, to avert dangerous climate change. Global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions must fall by at least 50% below 1990 levels before 2050 to have even a 50% probability of holding the global temperature increase to 2 °C. Cutting emissions sooner rather than later will reduce temperature and associated climate change impacts (Meinshausen et al., 2009). However, emissions of the primary greenhouse gas CO2 from fossil fuels are now over 50% higher than 1990 levels (the reference year for the Kyoto Protocol) and growing rapidly, particularly in the emerging economies of China and India (Peters et al., 2012). The production and transportation of goods causes approximately 45% of those emissions, and the energy consumed when people use those goods accounts for much of the remainder; energy use in buildings alone accounts for approximately 25% (IPCC, 2007). Therefore, to avert dangerous climate change will require tremendous changes in the design and operation of supply chains, defined here as encompassing the multi-stage production, transportation, use, and eventual disposal of goods, and the energy generation and transmission that supports all of those activities. This article sheds light on how companies can profitably reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains. Section 2 below describes how the world's largest corporation and a start-up in the building industry have already profited from doing so. Those examples suggest that the potential for profitable emissions reduction is substantial but (without effective climate policy) likely insufficient to avert dangerous climate change. Section 3 reviews academic literature on operations and supply chain management that provides further insights into ways to reduce emissions, and begins to quantify the potential impacts of climate change on supply chain performance.

This article has provided examples of how companies can profitably reduce greenhouse gas emissions under their direct and indirect control. It also directs readers to operations and supply chain management literature that provides insights on additional means for companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to establish new supply chains for renewable energy and other “zero”-emission products, and potential impacts of climate change on supply chains. By acting immediately to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, companies can lessen the impacts of climate change. However, the magnitude of profitable emissions reduction seems likely to be insufficient. I conclude that effective climate policy is needed to spur transformative supply chain coordination and innovation.