Climate impact on UK food supply chains
03/23/2023
The impacts of climate change are disrupting food supply chains across the globe. Many areas are experiencing more frequent extreme weather events leading to changes in the timing of harvests and disruption to the transport of goods.
Lower production yields due to unfavourable weather conditions alongside delays from storms are the main causes behind UK food shortages.
Disruption to UK Supply Chains
Over the past month, areas of Spain and North Africa have experienced unusually low temperatures alongside heavy precipitation and flooding. Local factors including increases in energy prices and low rainfall have made the situation worse.
The UK experienced the driest February since 1993, with a quarter of the typical expected rainfall recorded. The unusually dry conditions are projected to continue into spring, increasing the chance of summer drought conditions as reservoirs have not yet refilled since 2022. Shortages of fruit and vegetables are estimated to continue until May.
Climate Change Impacts on Global Supply Chains
Across the globe, more frequent extreme weather events are causing major disruptions to food produce supply chains. All aspects of the supply chain network are impacted, from production infrastructure to product quality. Coastal and other low-lying areas are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Inland and coastal flooding can cause significant damage to supply chains including ports, warehouses, factories and other facilities.
The costs of transportation, energy and raw materials have increased due to a combination of inflation, carbon pricing and other regulations designed to tackle climate change. Customers are also increasingly interested in the environmental and social impacts of the products they buy. Hence a greater demand for supply chain visibility, traceability, and transparency. This can be challenging for organisations with complex supply chains that struggle to trace the origin of their raw materials. Climate change is adding significant complexity and uncertainty to supply chains. Organisations that fail to recognise and adapt are likely to face disruptions and potentially reputational damage, and financial losses.
UK Climate and Sustainability – How We Can Help
At Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS) we help organisations manage and mitigate the climate risks present in their supply chains. Our climate change and supply chain industry experts have extensive experience in performing global analyses on supply chains to pin point locations exposed to climate hazards, and provide measures that can reduce the risk of disruption and losses. Our data-led assessment process identifies how severely a critical supply chain location may be impacted and how these climate risks evolve over time.
Contact us today on zrs.enquiries@uk.zurich.com to find out more about our supply chain climate risk services and how we can help your organisation build resilience in the face of increasing business disruption due to climate change. You can also find out more here.
