Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)
A few days ago, the European Council approved the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). It mandates that companies “should take appropriate steps to set up and carry out due diligence measures, with respect to their own operations, those of their subsidiaries, as well as their direct and indirect business partners throughout their chains of activities”. It clearly takes a supply chain perspective: “The chain of activities should cover activities of a company’s upstream business partners related to the production of goods or the provision of services by the company, including the design, extraction, sourcing, manufacture, transport, storage and supply of raw materials, products or parts of the products and development of the product or the service, and activities of a company’s downstream business partners related to the distribution, transport and storage of the product, where the business partners carry out those activities for the company or on behalf of the company”. It does “not cover the disposal of the product”. The Directive will now go to the EU Parliament for approval.
Global Supply Chains Amplify Costs of Extreme Heat Risk
An impressive new study by Sun et al., Global Supply Chains Amplify Economic Costs of Future Extreme Heat Risk, just published in Nature, reveals a worrying escalation in global heatwaves, posing significant health and economic risks through increased mortality, reduced labor productivity, and widespread economic disruptions in supply chains. By integrating climate science, epidemiology, and economic modeling, the study predicts a substantial increase in annual global GDP losses, potentially reaching up to 4.6% by 2060, with the most severe impacts felt in developing countries and major manufacturing nations such as China and the United States. This comprehensive analysis underscores the disproportionate impact of heat stress across regions and sectors and highlights the urgent need for effective climate mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize socio-economic impacts. The study suggests that advances in SCM research could play an important role in mitigating these economic losses by developing resilient strategies that adapt to the increasing frequency and severity of heatwaves.
Sun, Y., Zhu, S., Wang, D. et al. (2024). Global Supply Chains Amplify Economic Costs of Future Extreme Heat Risk. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07147-z
