Excess greenhouse gas emissions from human and industrial activities are believed to be the key cause of catastrophic climate change. According to the United Nations, carbon neutrality by 2050 is the world's most urgent mission. Many countries recently made commitments to this mission; however, at a supply chain level, little is known about barriers to carbon neutrality, circumventing strategies, and their performance implications. This pioneering study addresses the knowledge gap by case studies of six first movers. We find four common barriers: “major upfront investment costs,” “lack of awareness,” “lack of expertise,” and “resistant mindset.” Small and medium-sized enterprises face additional barriers relating to “lack of support from supply chain partners” and “uncertainty in return on investment.” We find that most first movers achieved positive economic performance associated with their carbon neutrality initiatives. Based on the findings and the literature, we develop a framework and discuss practical implications for governments and businesses to jointly overcome barriers to supply chain decarbonization.

人类和工业活动产生的过量温室气体排放被认为是造成灾难性气候变化的主要原因。根据联合国的说法，到 2050 年实现碳中和是世界上最紧迫的任务。许多国家最近对这一使命作出了承诺；然而，在供应链层面，人们对碳中和的障碍、规避策略及其对绩效的影响知之甚少。这项开创性研究通过六个先行者的案例研究解决了知识差距。我们发现了四个常见障碍：“主要的前期投资成本”、“缺乏意识”、“缺乏专业知识”和“抗拒心态”。中小企业面临着“缺乏供应链合作伙伴的支持”和“投资回报的不确定性”等额外障碍。” 我们发现，大多数先行者都取得了与其碳中和倡议相关的积极经济绩效。基于研究结果和文献，我们制定了一个框架，并讨论了政府和企业共同克服供应链脱碳障碍的实际意义。