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have seen firsthand how they have been able to act on cost, protect their supply chains and build resilience through the set of regulatory frameworks they have had to navigate. For example, the CSRD framework requires companies to look at their impact, risks and opportunities in detail. Almost overnight, companies had to start gathering that data and organizing their response to it. After around six years of working with that supply chain data, many of them have managed to find high levels of resilience and profitability as a result.
“ This is because the more visible ESG and carbon data becomes, the better a company understands where the energy costs within its supply chain are coming from, and the better prepared it can be for potential disruption, whether that means making smarter choices around food sourcing or elsewhere. Being less affected by disruption ultimately leads to more margins at the end of the day. Over time, if retailers are not acting on this themselves, those costs get passed on to the consumer. It sounds simple, but it really is a chain of consequences; if businesses are not building more flexibility into their value chain or finding better ways to support their suppliers through incentives, they remain far more exposed. The clearer the visibility a company has over the carbon being produced across its supply chain, the less vulnerable it becomes to extreme weather,” Rachel informs.
That vulnerability is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Climate volatility, from El Niño to extreme weather events more broadly, is disrupting global sourcing, production and supply chains across most industries, and retail is no exception. Extreme weather can impact
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