@Risk

The food supplies of Afghanistan and nine African states are those most at risk and vulnerable to rising costs, based on results of the Food Security Risk Index 2010, released last week by Maplecroft.

The Index uses 12 criteria developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme to evaluate risks to the supply of basic food staples for 163 countries. These criteria include: the nutritional and health status of populations, cereal production and imports, GDP per capita, natural disasters, conflict, and the effectiveness of government.

Following these calculations, Maplecroft rated Afghanistan as least secure in food supplies, while also ranking the African nations of the Democratic Republic of Congo (2), Burundi (3), Eritrea (4), Sudan (5), Ethiopia (6), Angola (7), Liberia (8), Chad (9) and Zimbabwe (10) as “extreme risk.” In all, African nations make up 36 of the 50 nations most at risk in the index. (more…)

The US Congress is considering new legislation that would allow states to increase the Interstate truck weight allowance from 80,000 to 97,000 pounds, provided that trucks operating above 80,000 pounds add a sixth axle.

Current law limits the weight of five-axle trucks traveling on the interstate system to 80,000 pounds, and interestingly, these US weight limits are the lowest in the developed world.

The legislation was introduced in the Senate earlier this month, and according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), it will allow states to authorize the operation of more efficient commercial trucks, resulting in safer highways, cleaner air and less costly freight transportation.

“ATA supports a number of reforms to federal truck size and weight regulations as part of our Sustainability Initiative,” says ATA President and CEO Bill Graves. “More efficient trucks, like those allowed under this legislation, will significantly reduce the trucking industry’s carbon output.”

However, not everyone sees the proposed legislation as beneficial. (more…)

About a year ago, Maersk was named Sustainable Shipping Operator of The Year in recognition of the efforts the company has made to reduce the environmental impact of its business operations. In particular, the award recognized Maersk’s pioneering efforts on the sometimes controversial shipping method known as “slow steaming.”

As the name implies, slow steaming ships travel at reduced speeds, saving fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The approach is relatively straightforward and quite effective, and in fact, slow steaming has proven so successful that now many major companies have throttled down even more. These days, they’re “super-slow steaming” and traveling at speeds of only 12 knots (about 14mph).

While there’s no doubt that super-slow steaming saves fuel, cuts costs and lowers emissions for shippers, I have to wonder: What is the effect on buyers? How does slow steaming impact order cycle times, inventory management and supply chain efficiency, in general? (more…)

Less than one in five companies see biodiversity as an important business issue, and only two out of the world’s largest 100 companies manage it as a strategic risk.

Yet, a new analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers concludes that no sector or business in the economy will escape unaffected by changes to the availability of environmental resources for business and consumers.

The research, which was conducted as part of a landmark study by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), puts the economic impact of biodiversity loss at between $2-4.5 trillion annually and says this impact will be felt in product pricing, availability of products and financing, and supply chain disruptions for consumers, business and government. For example, the study lists water used in food and drink production, timber for packaging, furniture and paper, productive land for fruit and vegetables, and fibers for clothes, as just some of the biodiversity and ecosystem ‘services’ whose economic value and protection are currently at risk. (more…)

Ten nations are at “extreme risk” of losing access to clean, fresh water, according to the latest Water Security Risk Index, released by Malplecroft last week.

Those ten nations are: Somalia (1), Mauritania (2), Sudan (3), Niger (4), Iraq (5), Uzbekistan (6), Pakistan (7), Egypt (8), Turkmenistan (9) and Syria (10).

To calculate the water risk index, Maplecroft measured these four key areas surrounding the issue: (more…)