Anyone who has stood by a calm lake may have been tempted to throw in a pebble and watch as the soothing wavelets ripple outward in perfect circles from where the pebble broke the surface.
This image is often used in macroeconomics to talk about the multiplier effect, and nowhere is this more apt than in the role large companies can play to achieve net-zero emissions by influencing their supply chains.
Recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analysis shows that Western economies continue to import high volumes of emissions, especially from Asia. This means a small number of companies can reduce emissions in developing economies by engaging with their suppliers; as the effects ripple throughout supply chains, the chances of reaching net-zero by 2050 increases significantly (Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Munoz, ‘Net-zero challenge: The supply chain opportunity’, World Economic Forum, January 2021).
