Meeting China’s Global Resource Needs and Managing Sustainability Impacts to Ensure Security of Supply: Synthesis Report

This synthesis report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development proposes a commodity-by-commodity framework to assess sustainability risks and vulnerabilities for importers, specifically focusing on China's global resource needs. The report argues that China's reliance on inward supply chains exposes it to systemic risks—including natural hazards, local conflict, and resource nationalism—which are currently managed in a tactical rather than strategic manner.

• The report identifies a nexus between sustainability issues in supplier countries—such as pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, and conflicts over water and land—and the risk of supply disruption for importers. These disruptions manifest as issues of resource "accessibility" (e.g., export bans or social protests), "affordability" (price increases), or "acceptability" (public and consumer expectations).
• China currently lacks a comprehensive national strategy for managing supply chain sustainability risks. While government ministries and companies engage with these issues, they do so in a limited and cautious way, leaving the economy vulnerable to systemic risks and resulting in a lack of coordination between public agencies and enterprises.
• The report notes that no single Chinese ministry or department possesses a mandate or overall vision for managing the country's import footprint. It suggests that the National Development and Reform Commission could integrate supply chain sustainability goals and performance metrics into the national planning process for the 13th five-year plan as part of the "ecological civilization" development.
• To address these vulnerabilities, the paper introduces a commodity-by-commodity framework for assessing sustainability risks at both the enterprise (micro) and national (macro) levels. This methodology was tested via a desk study focusing on palm oil and copper.

APA

Huppé,, S. Z. P. Z. F. C. P. A. (2014). Meeting China’s Global Resource Needs and Managing Sustainability Impacts to Ensure Security of Supply: Synthesis Report. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/meeting-chinas-global-resource-needs-and-managing-sustainability-impacts-0

Chicago

Huppé,, Simon Zadek,Jason Potts,Simon Zadek,Maya Forstater,Han Cheng,Jason Potts,Gabriel A. Meeting China’s Global Resource Needs and Managing Sustainability Impacts to Ensure Security of Supply: Synthesis Report. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/meeting-chinas-global-resource-needs-and-managing-sustainability-impacts-0.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Huppé, |first1=Simon Zadek,Jason Potts,Simon Zadek,Maya Forstater,Han Cheng,Jason Potts,Gabriel A. |title=Meeting China’s Global Resource Needs and Managing Sustainability Impacts to Ensure Security of Supply: Synthesis Report |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=17 April 2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/meeting-chinas-global-resource-needs-and-managing-sustainability-impacts-0 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hupp2014meeting, author = {Huppé,, Simon Zadek,Jason Potts,Simon Zadek,Maya Forstater,Han Cheng,Jason Potts,Gabriel A.}, title = {{Meeting China’s Global Resource Needs and Managing Sustainability Impacts to Ensure Security of Supply: Synthesis Report}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/meeting-chinas-global-resource-needs-and-managing-sustainability-impacts-0}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }