Weathering the Storm: How Businesses Can Protect Supply Chains from Climate Change

In 2025, climate change is causing real problems for businesses worldwide. Extreme weather events like floods, droughts, and wildfires are disrupting supply chains, delaying shipments, increasing costs, and sometimes even causing shortages of essential products.

Supply chains are the backbone of business operations. If raw materials, factories, or transportation networks are affected, it can impact everything—from production schedules to customer deliveries.

Why Supply Chains Are Vulnerable

Here’s how climate change is affecting supply chains today:

• Droughts: Many regions are experiencing severe droughts that reduce crop yields, water availability, and raw materials. For example, droughts in Europe and the Middle East have affected wheat, vegetables, and water-intensive crops.
• Floods: Flooding can damage roads, ports, and factories, delay shipments and causing inventory backlogs. Recent floods in parts of Spain and the U.S. have shown how quickly operations can be disrupted.
• Wildfires: Fires destroy warehouses, transport routes, and even production facilities, forcing companies to reroute shipments or halt production temporarily.

How Businesses Can Stay Strong and Adaptable

To handle these challenges, companies need to build supply chains that are strong, flexible, and quick to respond. Some strategies include:

• Diversify Suppliers: Don’t rely on just one region or supplier. If one source is affected, others can fill the gap.
• Monitor Operations in Real-Time: Track shipments, inventory, and production to detect problems early.
• Use Predictive Planning: Analyse data to forecast potential delays and adjust operations in advance.
• Invest in Infrastructure: Strengthen warehouses, transport routes, and backup systems to reduce damage from extreme weather.

How Oracle Can Help

Oracle provides powerful tools that make it easier for businesses to handle climate-related disruptions:

• Oracle SCM Cloud: Gives real-time visibility into inventory, shipments, and supplier performance.
• Oracle IoT Cloud: Uses smart sensors to monitor goods and transportation conditions.
• Oracle AI & Analytics: Helps predict possible disruptions and make smarter, faster decisions.

By using these tools, companies can see problems coming, respond quickly, and keep their supply chains running smoothly even during extreme weather events.

Real-World Impact

• A clothing manufacturer using predictive analytics can shift production to unaffected regions when droughts hit one supplier.
• A food company using IoT sensors can detect flooding on transport routes and reroute shipments before delays occur.
• Businesses that invest in stronger infrastructure reduce the risk of major losses and maintain customer trust.

Conclusion

Climate change is no longer a future problem—it is affecting supply chains right now. Businesses that plan ahead, adapt quickly, and leverage technology like Oracle can overcome these challenges. By building supply chains that are strong, flexible, and smart, companies can protect their operations, reduce costs, and continue delivering products to customers reliably.

by Payal Goswami , Gray Acumen

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