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The article Shipping Green considers the issue of international shipping of goods as it relates to Co2 emissions and the environment. The article argues that the primary reason that global supply chains are so popular is because fuel used for international shipping is untaxed. The idea behind global supply chains is that it is cheaper for corporations to purchase raw materials from one country, have the parts for their product assembled in another, and assemble those parts in yet another country. The hidden cost of this production method is the environmental costs of transporting such a large quantity of products around the globe numerous times before the products have finally reached their destination. This means that for any given product that a consumer may purchase, a certain amount of fuel has been burned to transport the materials for production around the globe a number of times.

A possible solution is to develop more environmentally friendly shipping options such as sea freight options that run on renewable energy resources. This option would be expensive and take a long time to implement. The article warns that implementing taxes on fuel used for international travel could backfire because corporations may switch to even less clean shipping options such as trucks or trains.

Another alternative to international shipping and global supply chains is to encourage economies to rely on products that are produced entirely locally. The article, however, argues that this option may be just as harmful to the environment in some cases.

Unfortunately, any action that is taken to reduce the environmental impact of shipping will ultimately affect the cost of living around the world. The price of making changes in the production methods of products will trickle down to the consumer and result in higher prices for products.  Because a higher price equals less sales, no corporation wants to be the first to take steps towards this change. The only thing that will eventually lead to a change is if enough consumers and citizens pressure their governments and large companies to make the necessary changes.