The climate clock is ticking. Supply chains are under pressure from all sides, including regulation, investors, rising costs, and the growing impact of extreme weather.
Yet despite years of strategy development and net zero pledges, emissions across global value chains remain stubbornly high. We are no longer on track to limit warming to 1.5°C.
That’s not a warning. It’s where we are heading. In boardrooms around the world, targets are being quietly softened, timelines extended, and ambition adjusted in response to economic uncertainty. But let’s be clear. Strategy is not the issue. Most companies already have targets in place. Reporting frameworks are active. Climate disclosures are now a regular feature in board packs. If anything, we’ve become highly skilled at planning.
The real challenge lies in execution.
This is not about compliance. It’s not about satisfying reporting requirements or presenting another carbon dashboard. Decarbonisation is not a box to tick. It is a supply chain to rewire.
At this year’s Innovation Zero World Congress, that message came through loud and clear. The era of setting vision is over. Leaders are looking for delivery not in five years, but now.
The ambition is there. The results are not
Across the Congress, the sentiment was consistent. Organisations have the tools. They have the frameworks. They have the intent. But they are still struggling to translate ambition into operational change. Dashboards exist. Scope 3 calculators are everywhere. Emissions baselines are mapped. But procurement still defaults to cost. Product design remains disconnected from sustainability goals. Transport teams aren’t equipped to consider carbon in their daily decisions.
The problem is not a lack of data. It’s that the data doesn’t flow into the systems where decisions are made.
The structures that drive day-to-day operations, from incentives to KPIs to governance models, still seemed to be wired for speed, volume, and price. Until we shift those foundations, decarbonisation will remain a peripheral activity rather than a defining capability.
We are at a crossroads like never before
Right now, four major forces are aligning. Taken together, they create a rare window for transformation.
- Policy is becoming enforceable. The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the UK’s SECR are just the start. Regulatory pressure to account for Scope 3 emissions is increasing across jurisdictions.
- Business intent is genuine. At Innovation Zero, companies were not just presenting case studies. They were asking real questions. There is energy, but also frustration at how difficult it is to get started.
- Technology is ready. Digital twins, AI-powered optimisation, and cloud-based emissions tracking are not future tools. They are available and being deployed in real environments.
- Innovation is flowing. Startups and established players are piloting solutions, including low-emission materials, closed-loop logistics, circular packaging, testing our limits of adopting innovation.
The question is not whether we know what to do. It’s whether we can take what works and scale it across complex, fragmented supply chains; from pilot to platform; from idea to infrastructure.
Circular thinking makes change deliverable
One of the clearest themes from Innovation Zero was that linear models no longer serve us. If we continue to build supply chains for single-use inputs and short-term optimisation, emissions will remain locked in.
Circularity shifts the equation. It enables decarbonisation by design, reducing both emissions and dependence on volatile resources. Take IKEA for instance; they redesigned their Eket shelving system using fewer materials and simple joinery. The result was a product that emitted less carbon, cost less to manufacture, and could be disassembled, reused, or resold.
Or Philips, who took a much different route. By offering lighting-as-a-service, they retained ownership of the product, extended its usable life, and enabled modular repair. Emissions fell. Customer value rose.
These aren’t surface-level sustainability projects. They are structural shifts embedded in the business model and innovation. That’s the level we need to aim for.
Scale is what separates intent from impact
Another key theme from the Congress: pilots are no longer enough. The future of supply chain transformation lies in scalable, repeatable solutions, and not handcrafted one-offs. DHL didn’t wait for a perfect solution. They tested electric vans in one Dutch city, measured performance, and then rolled out the model across Europe. It worked because it was designed to scale from day one.
Too many initiatives remain stuck in pilot mode because they’re not built to expand. The question to ask is no longer “does it work here?” but “can it work everywhere?”
Five practical moves to get started decarbonising the supply chain
For organisations looking to close the strategy-execution gap, here are five moves that unlock progress. Each one shifts the focus from ideas to delivery.
- Map influence, not just emissions: You don’t need to control every supplier to shape the outcome. Influence sits in design specs, procurement criteria, and volume commitments. Unilever embedded emissions thresholds in supplier scorecards. That turned sustainability into a prerequisite for long-term contracts.
- Build carbon into operational choices: If teams never see carbon data, they won’t use it. Make it visible in transport dashboards, sourcing tools, and RFQs. A major UK grocery retailer cut transport emissions by 8 percent simply by adding carbon metrics into route planning tools, with minimal infrastructure upgrades.
- Design for recovery and reuse: Circularity doesn’t need to start big. Focus on one product or process. Patagonia’s Worn Wear programme makes repairability a brand asset, extending product life and reducing material waste.
- Collaborate instead of audit: Auditing tells you where the issues are. Collaboration helps fix them. Nestlé worked directly with UK dairy suppliers to pilot low-emission feed alternatives, backing them with funding and technical support. West Midlands combined authority has been working on a regional circularity community, mapping how organisations collectively implement circular business models.
- Build pilots that can scale: If your pilot only works in one geography or team, it’s not transformation. Design for expansion. Nike’s Move to Zero started with sustainable materials in selected product lines. Now it informs design across the global portfolio.
From ideas to infrastructure
Decarbonisation is more than just a reporting challenge. In its core, it’s an operational one. It is not a mere marketing position, but a design mandate.
The tools exist. The intent is there. What’s missing is consistent, commercially grounded follow-through that rewires how supply chains function.
Profitability doesn’t have to be sacrificed for sustainability. But it cannot be the starting point. It’s the result of building supply chains that are resilient, circular, and designed for a carbon-constrained world.
But above everything, this is not about ticking boxes. It’s about building systems that allow us to thrive within the limits of the planet and still deliver commercial value.
- Sustainability