Financing and Projects that Aim for a More Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain : A Qualitative Study in the Food Industry

Title: Financing and Projects that Aim for a More Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain Subtitle: A Qualitative Study in the Food Industry Level: Degree of Master of Science in Business and Economics, 30 credits Authors: Diellza Kamberaj & Ella Kusmic Published: 2025-05-20 Supervisor: Fazle Rahi Examiner: Savvas Papadopoulos Background: Increased focus on emission reductions among companies has resulted in that they are ready to find new strategies to reduce their emissions in the supply chain which are incorporated in scope 3. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to identify funding opportunities and projects for implementing sustainability work in the supply chain. The research question is to provide answers to how Axfood AB can support its suppliers to reduce their climate impact in the supply chain. Reasearch question: How can Axfood AB work with projects and financing to promote environmental sustainability work in its supply chain? Theoretical and conceptual Framework: The theoretical and conceptual framework describes financing of environmental sustainability in the supply chain, relevant legislation for the study, Green Supply Chain Management and Sustainable Supply Chain Finance. Furthermore, the stakeholder theory, Triple Bottom Line and the study's theoretical model are presented. Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative research method and is carried out with a deductive approach. The empirical data was collected through six interviews with 5 companies and a text analysis of 17 reports and 18 websites in order to gain a deeper understanding of financing and projects in environmental sustainability work. The collected empirical data was analyzed in accordance with a content analysis.Empirical data: The study's empirical data describes the respondents' answers from the interviews and the data on companies' environmental sustainability work that was found with a text analysis. Conclusion: The study describes how companies work to implement environmental sustainability in the supply chain. The conclusion shows that a sustainability assessment of suppliers can contribute with a selection of suppliers that can have the opportunity to receive financial funds from a sustainability fund. This results in emission reductions in the supply chain, which is part of scope 3. Keywords: the food industry, sustainable supply chain finance, supply chain, green supply chain management, environmentally sustainable supply chain and scope 3.