Glasgow, Scotland: Discussions at COP26 are relevant for the UK cold chain, says Tom Southall, policy director at the Cold Chain Federation.
“The impacts of the pandemic and Brexit are prompting crucial conversations about supply chain resilience and how to prepare for future change,” he said, answering readers’ questions in Cold Chain News November issue.
As a global summit seeking nation-level environmental commitments, Cop26 may have seemed far removed from the industry’s monumental efforts each day to deliver cold chain services in extremely challenging conditions, he said. “But the conversations at Glasgow are directly relevant for how our industry operates from here.”
“For the cold chain, future resilience must be about people, systems and investments but it is also about progress towards net zero. We will need to deliver our services in a warming world, at the same time we will be required to play an important part in achieving the UK’s target for a net zero economy by 2050,” he said.
“We are working with our members and other specialists to explore the opportunities and challenges, and to set out a realistic pathway to a net zero UK cold chain. Strategic thinking and early preparation alongside the right support from government can help us make net zero a part of our industry’s growth rather than a limitation to it.
For more about the federatin’s Net Zero Project see: www.coldchainfederation.org.uk/cold-chain-net-zero-project/
