The world’s postal operators produce at least 26 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year,representing about 0.07% of total global CO2 emissions, according to a Universal Postal Union
survey released parallel to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen that started today.The United Nations Environment Programme estimates total annual worldwide greenhouse gasemissions at 38 billion tonnes, meaning that the overall postal sector figure of 26 million tonnesof CO2 from vehicles and buildings represents 0.07% of the global total, the UPU said in astatement.
Posts in industrialised countries emit around 11 million tonnes of CO2, or 41% of theworldwide postal total, while those in the developing and least developed countries release 15million tonnes, or 59% of the total, the first-ever UPU survey of postal CO2 emissions in its 191member countries showed.
On a regional basis, the 26 million tonnes are generated as follows: Americas(6.5 million tonnes); Europe (8 million tonnes); Africa (1 million tonnes); Asia (10million tonnes); and Oceania (0.4 million de tonnes). Five Posts from industrialised countries andfive from developing countries are among the 10 biggest generators of emissions; between them,these ten Posts, whose names were not disclosed, account for some 65% of global postal emissions.
The world’s public postal operators, employing more than five million people, operate aglobal network of more than 600,000 post offices and almost one million postal vehicles. Theyrepresent the planet’s largest physical distribution network, the UPU pointed out. The UN agencywill represent the postal sector at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.
“This first global inventory is a major step forward in our efforts to combat climatechange,” said UPU Director General Edouard Dayan, who will attend the Copenhagen conference on 15and 16 December. “The UPU will work with all its partners, including the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, to encourage the polluters of today and tomorrow to reduce their environmental impact inthe long term. Sound management of environmental issues can drive growth. In taking up thechallenge of green growth, businesses can rethink their logistics chain processes, improve theirefficiency, plan long-term energy saving measures, develop new products and services less harmfulto the environment and project a responsible business image,” added Dayan, whose agency is lookinginto setting up a financing mechanism to compensate Posts’ carbon emissions.
The survey results are based on Posts’ replies to a UPU questionnaire sent to all membercountries, together with data from PostEurop, which also gathered data on the carbon footprint ofits members. A total of 99 Posts completed the UPU questionnaire, representing a response rate of52%. For the others, the UPU drew up estimates based on key variables such as the country’s postaltraffic, number of post offices, number of postal staff, surface area of the country, population,level of development, and national greenhouse gas emissions provided by the World Bank.
The questionnaire was restricted to emissions produced by postal installations and vehicles.The UPU said it will continue to refine its survey in 2010, by including data on indirectemissions, such as those generated by private operators and subcontractors, air transport, wastemanagement, or the manufacture of envelopes and parcels. The UPU distributed a guide to all itsmember countries to help them gather data and make the necessary calculations to draw up theinventory.
