Sustainable supply chains and supply chain resilience: two sides of the same coin

Conflict in Iran and the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has caused significant disruption to global energy supplies, freight costs and lead times. And the ripple effects have extended to other commodities – from fertilisers, to sulphur and aluminum.

Conflict zones driven by geopolitics are at a 10-year high, explained risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft during CIPS Risk & Resilience Webinar Week. This is impacting critical supply chain chokepoints and established trade corridors. Increasingly the burden is falling on the procurement and supply chain function for organisational survival, outlined CIPS CEO Ben Farrell.

Panellists discussed several ways to achieve greater resilience. Speakers advised how scenario planning, hybrid operating models and cultural resilience within teams will all contribute to navigating the uncertainty that lies ahead. While a strategic investment in sustainable solutions helps address long-term exposure head on, as laid out by CIPS global head of sustainability Maxfield Weiss.

Sustainable procurement as structural risk reduction

What many organisations are labelling as sustainability is now, in practice, a resilience strategy, explained Maxfield. Where traditional resilience responses – more stock, supplier optionality and contingency trade routes – help buffer volatility, they do not remove underlying exposure. And this has played out in reality for many organisations with the disruption to the Strait of Hormuz in the first half of 2026.

“What we often call sustainability is actually at the core of resilience itself. We’re seeing that in this crisis, energy volatility is no longer contained within energy markets – it’s transmitting directly into supply chain, costs, supplier stability and ultimately margins,” set out Maxfield. In other words, if resilience is about reducing structural exposure, then sustainability becomes a practical solution – in this case, shifting your energy supplies away from fossil fuels reduces your exposure to fossil fuel price and supply shocks.

The panel highlighted that several governments have already planned for this trend. China, for example, has invested in clean energy – and its upstream supply chain – not only for climate reasons but also for competitiveness and risk. And Palestine has invested in the renewable energy sector to manage electricity shortages, added Abeer Abu-Sada FCIPS Chartered, director of operations at the Palestine Investment Fund. “Here in Palestine, resilient solutions are investments.”

This strategy is extending to businesses looking to build long-term resilience and competitiveness. “The permanent effect [of the crisis] is the shift away from fossil fuels no longer being driven primarily by carbon or climate ambition alone, but being driven by risk, by cost, and by resilience,” explained Maxfield. “The long term effect here is that the transition becomes less about ambition, more about necessity – and increasingly about competitiveness and resilience.”

In short, sustainable supply chains are increasingly becoming resilient supply chains. Procurement leaders are expected to manage organisational exposure and reducing dependence on volatile markets is a powerful lever the profession can pull to meet this challenge.

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We further explored this topic with Maxfield Weiss on a CIPS Earth Day webinar, From constraints to collaboration: partnering across the value chain. Watch back as an expert panel addressed sustainable procurement's role in developing resilient and collaborative supply chains.