Identification and analysis of drivers for carbon regulatory environmental policies implementation in manufacturing supply chain: A zero carbon perspective

Abstract

Manufacturing supply chains (SCs) has received great attention in both academia and industries to improve ecological sustainability and achieve net-zero emissions. Governments across the globe are adopting various Carbon Regulatory Policies (CRPs) to curb excessive carbon emissions through SCs and promote sustainable development. Especially among the emerging economies, organizations are under immense pressure from consumers and stakeholders for a transitional shift towards zero-carbon society. Therefore, this research develops a multi-stakeholder framework that identifies and evaluates the drivers of CRP adoption and implementation in manufacturing SC to elevate ecological sustainability. At first through an extensive literature review and Delphi method, relevant drivers and sub-drivers are identified, finalized and categorized under economic, environmental, social, technical and organizational categories. Secondly, fuzzy Best Worst Method (f-BWM) is employed to examine relative importance of all the drivers and sub-drivers. Thirdly, Weighted Influence Non-Linear Gauge System (WINGS) method is used to determine their cause-effect relationships. The proposed framework is illustrated through an industrial case study considering multiple manufacturing organizations in India. The results show that availability of initial funding, economic benefits, and legislative support obtained top three positions in the priority list, whereas, skill training of workers attained the least priority. Finally, critical managerial implications are deduced based on the results of relative importance and inter-relationships analysis. The proposed analytical framework can guide managers and policy makers to the identified drivers to foster effective CRP implementation.