World leaders are ready to convene for two weeks in Copenhagen hoping to agree on goals to halt global warming while marketers hawk green in everything from sports cars to dish soap. It’s tempting to think that the combination of vigorous government intervention and catchy ad copy are leading the way in saving the world. In practice, however, almost all of the real work involved in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reducing waste, and limiting water, soil, or forest damage is already being done by supply-chain people who source, manufacture and deliver everything we consume.
Consider that 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from industry, 28% from transportation and 7% from agriculture. Households account for only 17%. At the risk of oversimplifying things, the 20 million or so people who produce and ship what we buy at the supermarket or the hardware store spew almost four times as much carbon dioxide into the air as all 300 million of us do together while at home.
Of course every little bit helps, so turning off the lights as you leave the room or printing on both sides of the page is nice. But in the grand scheme of things it’s more symbolism than anything else. To fix the world you need to fix supply chains. Take KLA Tencor, who makes semiconductor equipment to feed our need for electronics. The company runs a bunch of distribution centers around the world and ships parts to factories that use their equipment. By eliminating inefficient routes and minimizing air freight, the company cut their carbon emissions by 8% in one year, the equivalent of taking 1,000 cars off the road. Along the way of course, they also saved money–20% of total logistics costs.
The push to save money is driving MillerCoors to reduce the weight of its cans and boxes and Home Depot ( HD – news – people ) to look for ways to reuse wooden pallets or find pallets made of some other recycled material. Big energy users like Dow Chemical ( DOW – news – people ) and Owens Illinois ( OI – news – people ) streamline production of essential stuff like plastic and glass primarily to keep fuel bills from eating up profits. Sports apparel giant Nike ( NKE – news – people ) and food conglomerate General Mills ( GIS – news – people ) use post-consumer recycled packaging because it costs less.
In each of these cases, corporate commitment to sustainability and social responsibility is clearly called out at the senior-most levels, but when it comes to doing the actual work, it’s all getting pushed down to the supply chain. Supply- chain people trained in the gospel of lean production have always tried to eliminate waste, scrap and empty miles, so forgive their quizzical expressions when you challenge them to cut carbon emissions–they’ve already been at it for decades.
Expectations of a Copenhagen-inspired regulatory overhaul solving the problem look pretty far fetched with mega-polluter China saying right up front that it won’t flatten carbon emissions before 2050. Meanwhile, back in the United States, President Obama’s intent to work toward some kind of carbon tax or cap-and-trade system faces predictable political fire and is unlikely to force real change any time soon.
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