Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) today announced it will take its GoGreen programme worldwide and aimto reduce the group’s total carbon footprint by 30% by the year 2020. Measures include
near-complete replacement of the air fleet, alternative vehicle fuels, more efficient buildingusage and employee activities.With the 30% CO2 reduction target, DPWN claimed it is the first major company in its industryto set a quantifiable climate protection target. The reference year for the efficiency target willbe 2007.
The GoGreen shipping service, which allows customers to offset the carbon emissions producedwhen shipping their parcels and goods through internal and external climate protection projectswill also be extended. The climate-neutral service, which has been available in Europe since 2006,will be extended to 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region this year alone.
“As the leading logistics provider and one of the world’s largest employers, we acknowledgeour broader responsibility in the battle against climate change, caused by industries and humans,”said chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel.
“Our GoGreen programme will help us be the obvious first choice for customers who seekclimate-friendly logistics solutions.” Today, two-thirds of the company’s 100 biggest customers arealready pursuing their own climate protection goals.
To achieve its objectives, DPWN said it will progressively modernise its air and groundfleets. About 90% of the group’s air fleet will be replaced by modern, more fuel-efficientaircraft. The use of innovative technologies such as hybrid engines and route planning will beexpanded to reduce the fuel consumption of the Group’s road fleet. In addition, state-of-the-artenvironmental technologies will be used to improve the energy efficiency of sorting centres andwarehouses.
The company’s more than 500,000 employees will also play a key role. DPWN will startstaff awareness campaigns to encourage employees to reduce their carbon footprint at work and athome through measures such as driver trainings or energy-saving classes.
Since the climate protection goal for 2020 also applies to subcontractors, DPWN will worktogether with them to develop methods to both track their emissions and identifyefficiency-boosting measures.
The GoGreen programme’s underlying approach will be a three-pronged method of assessing,reducing and offsetting carbon dioxide emissions. In order to measure the group’s carbon footprinton a regular basis and make achievements transparent, DPWN will set up a comprehensivecarbon-accounting system.
To reduce carbon emissions each division has identified a number of business-specificmeasures that will be implemented in the coming months and years. In addition, the group’s newsubsidiary DHL Neutral Services will offer consulting services to customers who want to reducetheir carbon footprint.
