The UNCTAD16 conference urges coordinated action and investment in sustainable transport systems as disruptions deepen.
Global supply chains are creaking under the strain of climate shocks, conflict, and rising costs – and developing countries are paying the highest price.
At the 16th UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) in Geneva, ministers warned that fragile logistics networks are deepening inequality and threatening progress on sustainable development.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan said the world’s trade arteries have become development flashpoints.
“A ship that once crossed the Red Sea in days now sails for weeks around the Cape of Good Hope,” she said.
“These are not just logistics challenges – they are development challenges.”
She noted that global supply chains are being squeezed by geopolitical disruptions, environmental pressures and digital risks.
Who bears the cost?
Freight rates have become volatile, shipping routes are shifting, and 90% of the world’s active fleet still runs on conventional fuels.
Uncertainty has become the highest tariff of all, and small island and landlocked developing countries are hit hardest.
Freight costs raise inflation in small island states five times faster than the global average.
Grynspan called for what she described as a “just triple transition” – towards zero-carbon shipping, digital trade systems and resilient transport corridors that leave no country behind.
“Supply chains are not just ships and cargo” she added.
“They are also the 1.9 million seafarers who keep trade moving, the ports that need climate resilience, and the corridors linking landlocked countries to the world.”
Turning vulnerability into opportunity
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, said recent crises have exposed “profound vulnerabilities” in global logistics systems – but also provides opportunities for reform.
“These challenges are not the exception – they are here to stay,” he told the roundtable.
“We have to be ready to live with them and overcome them as they arise.”
Al-Jasser said that Saudi Arabia, which will host the 2026 UN Global Supply Chain Forum in partnership with UN Trade and Development, is investing heavily in infrastructure, digitization and connectivity to keep trade flowing even during crises.
Across regions, ministers called for fairer terms and stronger partnerships to help developing countries build resilience.
Moustoifa Hassani Mohamed, Minister of Economy, Industry and Investments of the Comoros, said small island states like his must “turn vulnerability into
opportunity.”
“No one nation can build its own resilience through external aid alone,” he said.
“Partnership remains important for us, but resilience begins through a clear national vision that would help us to grow our economy.”
Angola’s Transport Minister Ricardo Viegas d’Abreu said regional integration is key
The Lobito Corridor in Angola now connects the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, creating new trade routes across southern Africa.
“Infrastructure gap is something that we need to take into consideration” he said.
“Government is doing its own part, but we need private sector as well and other forms of infrastructure finance that we can establish.”
Building resilience for sustainability
Participants agreed that resilience must go beyond crisis response to long-term reform – greener fuels, digital infrastructure and skilled workers.
India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal suggested that supply chain security now outweighs short-term cost savings.
“We are willing to pay that extra buck to be able to have resilience in our supply chains,” he said.
UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2025 maps the development impacts of recent trade disruptions and guide future reforms.
The future of trade depends on the resilience of its arteries.
Supply chains must not only deliver goods, but they must also deliver shared prosperity.
Source: UNCTAD
