PostEurop, the association of European public postal operators, has supported the latest EUmeasures to reduce environmental impact and combat climate change.
The organisation said it reiterated its support for the 2020 EU emission target. 14 of thePosteurop members have already agreed to an ambitious average 10% reduction of their greenhouse gasemissions over the next five years and more PostEurop members are expected to commit to thevoluntary programme.
The European Commission agreed this week on a package of proposals that will deliver theEuropean Council’s commitments to fight climate change. The proposals demonstrate that the targetsagreed last year are technologically and economically possible and provide a unique businessopportunity for thousands of European companies. As agreed by its leaders in March 2007, the EUseeks to reduce greenhouse gases by at least 20% by 2020.
The postal sector in Europe, through the very nature of its activities, has an impact on theenvironment, mostly in the form of greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these CO2 emissions resultfrom the use of road transport, aviation and building energy usage also contributing significantly,Posteurop pointed out.
There is, however, considerable scope for improvement, the association said. As a vital sectorof the European economy, the postal sector is committed to providing an example, by working closelywith customers, suppliers and other stakeholders in order to reduce the whole sector’s impact inEurope and worldwide.
Elaborated by PostEurop’s Environment Working Group under the authority of the SocialResponsibility Committee, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programme is fully in line with the KyotoProtocol and the European Climate Change Programme targets. Its aim is to measure and assess thereduction efforts of participating postal operators and to create synergies by exchanging bestpractices in that field.
