Sertifikaatit työkaluina toimitusketjujen ilmastonriskien hallinnassa

Climate change is constantly accelerating, and extreme weather events are becoming more common, which poses major risks to global supply chains. As a result, companies from various industries are searching for tools that could aid in supporting long-term supply chain resilience and climate adaptation. This thesis examines the role of various certification standards as possible tools for managing climate change related supply chain risks and strengthening their overall resilience. The research utilizes a qualitative approach and is built on semi-structured interviews with employees from multiple Finnish companies who work closely with certifications and sustainability. The gathered data from the interviews is reinforced by a literature review that analyses existing research on climate related supply chain risks, supply chain resilience, climate adaptation, and certification standards. The analysis in the thesis examines how companies from various industries view and select certifications in practice. It also explores how certifications manage to help identify and manage these risks, and what type of challenges and limitations certifications currently possess. The findings from the thesis demonstrate that certifications can aid in fortifying overall supply chain resilience by improving certain qualities such as transparency, traceability, risk awareness, and establishing a baseline level of trust with suppliers. It also manages to reveal that certifications support climate adaptation by encouraging monitoring, continuous improvement, and learning within supply chain processes. However, the research shows that certifications’ impact is highly dependent on how companies have applied them in practice and how flexible they are. Some companies felt that certifications are too rigid and fail to consider differences in industries and company sizes. The thesis concludes that certifications are not a standalone solution to achieving more resilience and better climate adaptability within supply chains, but that they can be valuable supporting tools when they are managed to be integrated properly into organizational processes.