Points clés de l'article :
- Supply chains must be redesigned to meet ecological challenges and European sovereignty goals.
- The redesign of globalized value chains and the improvement of their carbon footprint require the development of new skills.
- In a free market that needs to decarbonize, how is the textile industry trying to change course?
- LCA and European regulations related to the modification of supply chains.
- Innovative careers in the ecological transition: a look at the roles of supply chain impact analyst and sustainable procurement officer.
- Building student training programs: a key challenge for the carbon transition.
As the need for greater sustainability and sound environmental practices grows, the imperative to change and evolve corporate supply chains has become unavoidable. This shift is leading to the development of skills and new roles focused on sustainability. In the coming years, new departments within companies will continue to emerge, such as those dedicated to green logistics, eco-design, sustainable procurement, or impact-driven sourcing. These require new talent for many rapidly growing professions. The stakes are high; to address climate and societal changes, it is essential to meet these new corporate needs and prepare the future leaders and managers who will emerge in this new world.
Supply chains must be redesigned to meet ecological challenges and European sovereignty goals.
While the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted issues regarding supply chains under extreme strain, it is the ecological emergency that should necessitate a profound change in our economic cycles. The issues of sovereignty and environmental sustainability are thus converging. Choices made across the Atlantic (e.g., " Build America, Buy America ") encourage us to find other solutions to maintain and defend our European economies by building a trajectory toward a model that is sustainable from the perspective of both climate and biodiversity.
From strategic metals to low-carbon or socially responsible sourcing, the way we procure goods is set to evolve and become more complex. While price has historically been the primary deciding factor, ecological criteria are increasingly influencing purchasing decisions. Consequently, both large corporations and SMEs will need to implement processes that ensure traceability, carbon accounting, and ecological impact assessment.
Transparency and traceability in the production and transport of goods require comprehensive knowledge of one's subcontractors and suppliers, wherever they are in the world, despite a changing global landscape that makes transportation increasingly complex.
The redesign of globalized value chains and the improvement of their carbon footprint require the development of new skills.
According to a study conducted by Capgemini, 73% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for a product or service that offers complete transparency. These consumer demands for transparency represent an economic opportunity and create new jobs within companies, particularly in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) departments, with roles available on a full-time or work-study basis. Whether through internal employees or specialized consultants, the number of people working directly on CSR issues is on the rise. Regarding the production of tangible physical goods, many procurement decision criteria can be compared to the choices made in a CSR strategy: carbon emissions, social responsibility, transparency, etc. Furthermore, for carbon emission reduction targets to be met, companies will need to recruit an abundance of managers trained in climate issues. Thus, as we move away from the now-dreaded "greenwashing," every employee in a company will need to be able to evaluate and understand the carbon and environmental impact of their activities. This is easier said than done, as ecology has many false friends. Things are complex and sometimes deceptive, and people often confuse "local" with "good for the planet." For example, in winter, from a carbon emissions perspective, it is better to consume tomatoes from the Maghreb produced in "standard" greenhouses than French tomatoes produced in greenhouses heated by fossil fuels.
"73% of consumers are willing to pay more for a product offering total ecological transparency" - Capgemini Study - March 2022 - Delphy Amarat & Clément Falquet.
In a free market that needs to decarbonize, how is the textile industry trying to change?
The textile industry is a prime example of the difficulty in moving from words to action. It is a globalized sector that remains particularly challenging to transform. Changing manufacturing processes and creating clothing from existing materials is what new, so-called eco-friendly fashion brands are attempting to do. This process—upcycling—consists of recreating a manufacturing cycle without the use of raw materials, consequently resulting in a lower carbon footprint than that of the traditional textile industry, sometimes by as much as two-thirds.That said, such a process involves laborious traceability, as it is necessary to first ensure the source and composition of these materials.
Azala: an example of an initiative. Let's take the example ofAzala, an upcycling brand that manufactures clothing entirely from recycled fabric scraps. For every garment produced, a quantity of small textile scraps (which will be shredded) is required to create the padding, while others are used as fabric. The first barrier is certifying the origin and exact composition of these scraps so that this information can be explained to the consumer on the label or product notice. Consequently, it is also necessary to know who the suppliers behind these original textile waste materials are, in order to verify quality, consumer safety, and ethics. Using fabric scraps does not exempt a company from verifying that the original fabric was not used to fund criminal networks or slave labor. Collecting this type of data requires additional analysis and sometimes investigative work, which demands more human and intellectual resources compared to the conventional fashion industry.
LCA and European regulations in the context of supply chain transformation
The European Union (EU) has implemented several levers to accelerate the transformation of supply chains, and a key point of these measures is the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a process for evaluating the overall ecological and climate impacts of a product, process, or service throughout its entire life cycle, from the production of the materials used in its manufacture, through intermediate production and assembly, to the product's use and end-of-life.
Several European directives provide a framework for life cycle assessment, such as the Ecodesign Directive, which sets minimum ecological performance requirements for energy and raw materials, though not yet for assembled products. The directive requires manufacturers to consider the climate and biodiversity impacts of their products throughout their life cycle, including raw material sources, energy consumption, and the product's life after use. To be compliant, companies must therefore conduct an LCA to measure and evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions or biodiversity impact of their products and produce them in a way that minimizes these impacts. Several other directives, such as the one on the circular economy, are gradually introducing constraints aimed at aligning business models with the challenges of the climate transition. This integration of life cycle assessment into European directives and other similar regulations will force economic actors to profoundly modify their supply, transport, and information-reporting systems within the production chain. Consequently, these changes rely on mastering new skills, the implementation of which is only just beginning.
Innovative careers in the ecological transition: a look at the roles of supply chain impact analyst and sustainable procurement officer.
The first profession that helps improve the situation from a life cycle assessment perspective is that ofResponsible Buyer, also known as a sustainable procurement officer. This person is responsible for implementing new product selection criteria for suppliers. While price, quality, and delivery times remain important in a buyer's selection grid, the responsible buyer introduces environmental criteria. It is, however, necessary to define what lies behind the word "responsible," as the criteria can be broad. Examples include: the use of raw materials, products using renewable energy in their manufacture, or the management of energy consumption and the limitation of greenhouse gas emissions during production. In short, all factors that help improve a product or service's footprint on the climate or biodiversity, as mapped by the ISO 26000 standard, also known as the Lucie label. The task is significant, as most of the world's products are manufactured in Asia, where the energy mix still relies heavily on fossil fuel supplies for primary energy production. The share of a retail group's carbon emissions can therefore be 70-80% downstream, i.e., in the production and transport of products. The profession of responsible buyer is on the rise; indeed, group executives are seeing their annual bonus programs and stock options indexed to the achievement of announced carbon trajectories. As a result, many positions are opening up, such as those at Afnor and Juliette Guillemin Dupille who told the teams at Klima School the Produrable trade show, "I need to recruit a sustainable procurement intern very quickly; we are overwhelmed by client demand."
Another profession related to the sustainable buyer is that of the sustainable supply chain consultant. This role is increasingly in demand as companies seek to adopt sustainable and responsible practices. A sustainable supply chain consultant works within companies to optimize their supply chains for sustainability, identifying opportunities for improvement and implementing strategies to minimize the environmental and social impact of their operations. To carry out this work, the consultant conducts a detailed study of the company's current supply chain, examining production, distribution, and consumption processes. They may also perform ethical and environmental audits to identify areas for improvement and potential challenges. Using the results of their sustainability audit, the consultant then develops strategies to help the company reduce its environmental and social impact, working with various stakeholders in the supply chain, such as suppliers, carriers, distributors, and consumers. These strategies may include sustainability initiatives such as waste reduction, the use of renewable energy, the implementation of recycling programs, and the promotion of sustainable practices among consumers. An example is the eco-friendly clothing company "Ecoalf," based in Madrid, Spain : Ecoalf has adopted sustainable production methods to minimize its environmental impact. Thanks to intensive work on its supply chain, the brand uses recycled materials to manufacture its clothing and adopts less energy-intensive production methods, such as using renewable energy to power its factories or shortening its supply chains to reduce transport intensity. Furthermore, the company has implemented sustainability management systems to monitor and reduce its carbon emissions at every stage of the production chain.
Building student training programs: a key challenge for the carbon transition.
Training students on ecological issues is crucial for transforming corporate business models. By providing future leaders with the tools and methods needed to understand the environmental impacts of their activities, we help them create more sustainable and less obsolete products, make company operations less energy-intensive, decarbonize procurement, production, and distribution systems, shorten value chains, and measure improvements in various environmental parameters.
There is an urgent need; integrating environmental issues into economic activities is crucial to ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. According to the estimates from the International Energy Agency in its "World Energy Outlook" report, it is necessary to accelerate the energy transition to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, targeting a 55 to 60% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. To reach these figures, the use of carbon-free energy is necessary, as are sobriety measures within production chains. Thus, current students, once trained in these issues, will be at the heart of this energy challenge and the predicted post-globalization era.
KLIMA School: A concrete example
To achieve this training objective, KLIMA School, a business school dedicated to ecological issues, offers programs that include training modules on responsible procurement and sustainable supply chains. Through concrete case study projects, students learn how companies can adopt energy and carbon sobriety practices in their operations.
For example, students may focus on examining cases of European companies that have improved the traceability of their supply chains, such as by using software tracking technologies to guarantee the origin and energy intensity of raw materials. They can also study how companies can integrate renewable energy sources into their business models, such as by using solar panels to power their factories or installing heat recovery or thermal insulation equipment. Students can also study the various strategies implemented to make supply chains more sustainable and less carbon-intensive. KLIMA School students also acquire a solid understanding of the various regulations and initiatives regarding sustainability, as well as best practices for implementing sustainable strategies.
In conclusion, the transformation of supply chains has become a crucial issue for the environment and European sovereignty. Current trends show that transparency and traceability in supply chains are becoming increasingly important for consumers, companies, and regulators. The textile industry is a concrete example, with the rise of new professions linked to product transparency and traceability. At the same time, European regulations regarding product life cycles and cost-benefit analyses are encouraging companies to opt for more sustainable and less carbon-intensive models. In doing so, they are paving the way for new transition-related professions, particularly in the fields of supply chain and procurement. Finally, it is important to note that training students on ecological issues is a crucial societal challenge. By encouraging future leaders to understand the levers of the supply chain and more sustainable procurement, and by developing the skills necessary to address them, it will be possible to strengthen our ability to transform corporate business models and accelerate the transition toward a more decarbonized, less resource-intensive, and more sustainable economy.
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