This study focuses on how a low-carbon transition reshapes the development of sustainable cold chain logistics. Unlike conventional supply chains, cold chain logistics consumes high amounts of energy and generate substantial carbon emissions because of refrigeration demands, while fragmented operations, inefficient infrastructure, poor collaboration, and limited research hinder the development of sustainable low-carbon strategies. This study aims to construct a causal hierarchical roadmap for low-carbon transformation in sustainable cold chain logistics through a multilevel perspective on sociotechnical transitions that integrates data-driven techniques. The results reveal that regulatory and carbon control mechanisms, digital infrastructure and intelligent logistics systems, and sustainable technologies and energy-efficient innovations constitute the causal aspects influencing operational cold chain logistics. This study provides a theoretically grounded and empirically validated pathway for fostering low-carbon, sustainable cold chain logistics and offers practical insights for policymakers and logistics practitioners seeking to accelerate innovation within temperature-sensitive supply systems.
Bui et al. (Fri,) studied this question.