Posts set landmark emissions target
The postal industry today became the first services sector to set a global emissions target for its industry.
The International Post Corporation (IPC), which represents the world’s leading post operators, today announced that 20 member postal operators will work together to collectively reduce their carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, based on 2008 levels.
The commitment to an industry-wide carbon reduction target was announced at a panel discussion on the postal industry and climate change, moderated by Nadine Dereza.
During the discussion Jean-Paul Bailly, chairman of the International Post Corporation and CEO of Groupe La Poste, presented the “IPC Postal Sector Sustainability Report on the Environment”, the industry’s first ever combined sustainability report.
Twenty post operators which collectively represent 80% of global mail volumes participated in this first round of reporting, using the IPC Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System, developed specifically for the industry.
IPC members manage over 100,000 facilities and 600,000 transport vehicles. The 20 post operators that contributed to the Sustainability Report collectively currently emit 8.36m tonnes of CO2. The target set will reduce that total to 6.688m tonnes by 2020.
“This is a momentous occasion, not just for us in the postal industry, but for business as a whole”, said Jean-Paul Bailly. “As the first services sector to unite on a global scale to tackle its industry’s global carbon footprint, we’re demonstrating what can be done when organisations work together. Curbing CO2 emissions is something that concerns the entire industry, and it makes sense to take a sector approach to reaching a solution”, he concluded.
Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), applauded the announcement. “I welcome this global commitment by an entire service sector as an example of the vision and leadership required at all levels to effectively combat climate change, and I encourage the postal sector to continue to set an example”.
The 20 post operators who took part in the EMMS report and have together set the joint emissions reduction target are: An Post, Ireland; Australia Post; Canada Post; Correios de Portugal; Correos y Telegrafos, Spain; Deutsche Post, Germany; Groupe La Poste, France; Hellenic Post, Greece; Itella Post, Finland; La Poste/De Post, Belgium; Magyar Posta, Hungary; New Zealand Post; Norway Post; Posten Norden AB, Denmark and Sweden; Postes et Telecommunications Luxembourg; Royal Mail, United Kingdom; Swiss Post; TNT, The Netherlands; and the USPS.
