MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Commodities Markets Are Broken. Responsible Supply Chains Can Fix Them.

The headwaters of global supply chains are opaque and turbulent. Because of the way raw materials such as iron ore, aluminum, and lithium are produced, bought, and sold, most consumer-facing manufacturers lack the faintest idea about the provenance of their inputs.

But now, for the first time in history, it is possible to see how this could change. Some companies have already demonstrated that real-time, complete visibility into the origins of their materials is achievable. On this foundation, a market-based system that rewards better sourcing choices can fix a paradigm that has been broken for centuries.

About the Author

Stephen Lezak is a fellow at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). He manages the University of Oxford’s program on the sustainable future of commodities and infrastructure and is a Gates scholar at the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute. Valentina Guido is a senior associate at RMI focusing on industrial decarbonization and supply chain sustainability at the junction of carbon markets, policy, equity, and traceability. Paolo Natali is a principal at RMI and has led its Supply Chain Emissions Initiative since its inception in 2019, focusing on the improvement of sustainability accounting through projects like the Coalition on Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) Framework and Horizon Zero for the digitization of supply chain accounting.

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