Businesses are being pushed to treat supply chains less as cost centres and more as strategic assets, as climate disruption, geopolitical tension and regulation combine to expose weaknesses in global networks.
That shift is at the heart of edie’s Sustainable Supply Chains Summit, which takes place on 17 September at 1 America Square in London. The event will bring together sustainability, procurement, operations and supply chain leaders to discuss how companies can cut emissi...
Continue Reading This Article
Enjoy this article as well as all of our content, including reports, news, tips and more.
By registering or signing into your SRM Today account, you agree to SRM Today's Terms of Use and consent to the processing of your personal information as described in our Privacy Policy.
ons, improve traceability and build more resilient sourcing models.
The pressure on supply chains has intensified over the past year. Industry analysis for 2026 points to six major risks now shaping global logistics and sourcing: geopolitical uncertainty, worsening climate impacts, labour shortages, cyber threats, competition for critical materials and rising regulatory pressure. Together, those forces are prompting many firms to move away from a model built solely around efficiency and towards one that places resilience and flexibility at the centre.
Research into geopolitical risk in supply chains has highlighted the vulnerability of maritime chokepoints, the effects of sanctions-driven financial fragmentation and the concentration of critical materials in a handful of markets. Common responses include diversifying suppliers, nearshoring production and using digital tools to gain better visibility across networks.
Climate risk is adding another layer of complexity. Analysts at S&P Global have warned that extreme weather and environmental pressures are increasingly shaping supply-chain planning, while artificial intelligence and automation are changing how companies monitor and respond to disruption. The result is a more complicated operating environment in which businesses are being forced to rethink where they source, how they transport and how they measure risk.
edie says its summit will focus on practical steps rather than broad ambition. The agenda includes decarbonising suppliers, tackling Scope 3 emissions, improving traceability, managing nature and water risk and strengthening data across complex global supply chains. The event is aimed at teams already working on supplier engagement as well as organisations that are still mapping their wider emissions footprint.
According to edie’s tracker data, three-quarters of business leaders now identify supply chain engagement as a sustainability priority. The summit is intended to help turn that priority into operational change, with workshops and networking designed to share approaches that can be applied across sectors.
Speakers include Joe Franses of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Heidi Barnard of NHS Supply Chains, April Sotomayor of BAFTA Albert, Mario Abreu of Ferrero and Rachel McIntyre of Little Moons.
For many companies, the challenge is no longer whether supply chains need to change, but how quickly they can be adapted to withstand shocks, meet sustainability expectations and create commercial advantage.
Source: Noah Wire Services
