Global supply chains affect the economy, the environment and social welfare in many ways: Worldwide, economies are experiencing global supply shortages; the greening of the global economy requires a restructuring of global production to massively decrease its environmental footprint; and consumers are increasingly demanding higher social and environmental standards. Such challenges call for policies that shape global supply chains in accordance with globally agreed social and environmental objectives. Policies along these lines will have to balance the legitimate interests of different countries and they may easily fail to achieve their objectives unless they are grounded in a thorough understanding of the respective supply chains. This is why the international "Research Network Sustainable Global Supply Chains" was initiated by the BMZ. It currently comprises about 100 internationally leading scientists from all over the world and is jointly coordinated by four German institutes. Its tasks are: To conduct and stimulate research that contributes to making supply chains more sustainable; and to collect and synthesize the best international research on this topic and make it accessible to policy makers and other societal actors.

This launch event serves to present and discuss key insights of the network’s first flagship report, the Sustainable Global Supply Chains Report 2022.