In 2010 the world’s greenhouse gas emissions was the highest ever in history. The implications this will have is still unknown, but research done leaves no doubt that the climate changes we are facing today is a consequence of the increased amounts of gases that circulates in our atmosphere due to increased human activity following the industrialization. If the amount of emissions continues to increase, the middle-temperature of the earth will be higher than what is sustainable. Researchers are saying that if the global middle-temperature rises with more than 2 degrees Celsius until 2100 there is a large potential for “dangerous climate change” (Harvey, 2011). This may cause lack of food and water in areas that today is inhabited, while other areas bloom. The expected consequences of climate change is that it will cause a more uneven distribution of the world’s resources than what is the case today, and thus leading to mass migrations and conflicts.
Clearly there is a need for action to be made. First in 1972 the environment and sustainability became a topic on the international policy arena, as the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was established. Since then it has inspired and encouraged governments and private organizations to become more environmentally conscious. Several initiatives have been started, environmental organizations established and new technology invented in the continuous work to improve the world’s environment. The term sustainability seems to be on everyone’s lips, and just by searching for the term “sustainable” on Google, one get 129 million hits.
The World Commission on Environment and Development’s report Our common future is often cited for its definition of sustainable development as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations” (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Sustainability covers three aspects:
economic, environmental and social responsibility. Companies including sustainability in their strategy have measures in place in order to improve the company in respect to all three aspects.
The pulp and paper industry is of particular interest when it comes to tackling climate change, as its main raw material is a natural resource that have proven to be a vital piece in the world’s climate puzzle. Just small shares of extra gas in the atmosphere disrupt the natural balance. The forest industry is a large, energy consuming industry, and depending on trees as a raw material. The production process itself, due to intensive energy consumption, leads to
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high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, deforestation releases large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In the tropical forests 13 million hectares of forest per year of is removed, which is equivalent to 36 football fields per minute (WWF Brief, 2010). To put this in a perspective, deforestation and forest degradation is responsible for nearly 20 per cent of the global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than the entire transportation sector, and second only to the energy sector (UN-REDD Programme, 2009).
Because of the impact the pulp and paper industry is assumed to have on climate change, pressure has been put on the participants to become more sustainable in all of its operations.
We have been studying some of the participants in the industry, with the main focus on the non-integrated European supply chain consisting of NORTØMMER, Norske Skog and IKEA.
According to The Carbon Disclosure Project’s Supply Chain Report (2011) 50 per cent of an average corporation’s emissions are from the supply chain rather than within its four walls, and it is therefore of importance to look at the entire system. Thus, our study focuses on what a supply chain system as a whole actually does in terms of the environment, and in particular when being non-integrated. The reason why a non-integrated supply chain is interesting is because a study on a non-integrated supply chain in terms of environmental efforts has not been done before, even though fully integrated supply chains are not as common. Previous studies have mainly focused on theoretical approaches to green supply chain management for integrated supply chains.
In this particular non-integrated supply chain the raw material is wood and the final product is the IKEA catalogues. Since wood is used to produce several different end products, this is considered a divergent supply chain. With this study we hope to give some new insights as to what the different businesses along a supply chain does, and how the system as a whole functions in terms of becoming greener. To be able to say something about the non-integrated supply chain’s degree of environmental action, we had to compare it with another supply chain within the industry, and therefore chose to look at the European company, UPM, who has a more integrated supply chain for their paper production.
We looked at the environmental aspect of sustainability when studying both supply chains, and are thus using the term “green supply chain”. The supply chain is a system in place in order to transform the raw material into a final product. Green supply chain management (GSCM) is about making the entire supply chain more environmental sustainable. Companies may choose to adopt GSCM for many different reasons: one may be forced due to laws and
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regulations, one may use GSCM to differentiate oneself in a competitive industry by being environmentally friendly and lastly one might need to implement GSCM to stay competitive if your competitors already have adopted GSCM.
Thus, this master thesis will address the question of how this non-integrated supply chain system is becoming greener, compared with an integrated supply chain and best practices in the industry. Our intention is to provide a general framework for a supply chain system that can be used to find which strengths and weaknesses they have internally and which opportunities and threats it faces externally in terms of the environment. We have developed a set of questions that should be asked to identify the relevant characteristics. The questions cover the different aspects within GSCM which we mention in our case studies. The findings can then be used to make a strategy with the intention of making the supply chain greener.
Since we decided to base our master thesis only on public available information, the framework provided has a simplistic view and do not cover all aspects of the supply chain nor GSCM. However, by using this framework a company can more easily generate more questions to be able to map its own strategic options.
To gain an understanding of GSCM, and how a system like the one we are studying works it is necessary with some background information. Our thesis is mainly concerning the pulp and paper industry, and hence all theory is focused toward this. To gain a theoretical context we have started by describing relevant theories in chapter two, such as supply chain theory, a closer description of GSCM, and the theory behind a SWOT and TOWS analysis. Then, we present a framework giving an understanding of how the continuous work towards worldwide environmental policies is proceeding, and a description of important organizations that are influencing the companies we are looking at in chapter three. Also included in this chapter is a description of the three main certifications used internationally in the forest industry and an explanation of greenhouse gases and the implications of greenhouse gas emissions today. In chapter four we will give a brief description of the situation in the forestry and paper industry today, seen from an environmental perspective. To give an insight of the companies we are studying, chapter five and six presents the non-integrated and integrated supply chains.
In chapter seven we will present our case studies including first the non-integrated supply chain, followed by the integrated supply chain. These case studies will take a closer look at six different parts of the supply chain and what is done at the different parts in terms of the environment. To sum up and compare with other companies in the industry we have a general
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discussion at the end. Next we present in chapter eight a deeper insight in cooperation and reporting systems within the supply chains.
Chapter nine is the main part where we present the framework meant for companies to use in order to identify key characteristics with its supply chain system that are influencing its greenness. We are asking concrete questions about the different parts of the supply chain in terms of GSCM and answering them seen from the non-integrated supply chain’s perspective.
To sum up this supply chain’s strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats we use a SWOT analysis. In the end we conduct a TOWS analysis which is a practical tool that can be used to identify strategic options that can be followed to become greener. These suggested strategies are a simplistic answer, but is supposed to provide our opinion seen from an external point of view on which measures they could put in place to improve their environmental profile. In chapter ten we present our concluding remarks.
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