Global postal industry slashes emissions

The postal industry has cut its CO2 emissions by over half a million tonnes in 2009. The findings were made public in the Postal Sector Sustainability Report 2010, published this week by the International Post Corporation (IPC).

The Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System (EMMS) programme was launched with the presentation of the industry’s benchmark report at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, when the postal industry became the first global services industry to adopt a sector-wide approach to sustainability. The sector then set itself an emissions reduction target of 20% based on 2008 figures, by 2020 (the ’20/2020 target’).

In this first year of reporting nearly all of the 20 participating postal operators improved their carbon management scores on 2008, reporting a collective reduction in CO₂ emissions of a total 597,000 tonnes. In 2009 these posts collectively emitted 8.63m tonnes of CO₂, so this figure represents over a third of the required emissions reduction to meet the 20% target by 2020 set in Copenhagen.

IPC chairman and CEO of Groupe La Poste Jean-Paul Bailly commended the participating postal operators on the strides they have collectively made. He said: “I am extremely encouraged by this significant lessening of the postal industry’s global carbon footprint, and delighted we as an industry have been able to achieve so much in our first year. IPC’s leadership in driving the EMMS programme has in no small part contributed to achieving these great results.”

IPC CEO & president Herbert-Michael Zapf echoed Bailly’s praise of the industry’s efforts, commenting that “in an effort to cut a maximum of CO₂ emissions and make a strong impact in this first year of reporting, participating posts will naturally have focused on areas where emissions reductions will have been most readily achievable, whether in driving energy efficiency or converting to green electricity. This is why we are unlikely to see such dramatic reductions year-on-year, and while reaching our 20/2020 target will likely become increasingly challenging with each year, as an industry we remain committed to achieving it”.

This year Österreichische Post (Austrian Post) and Poste Italiane announced their participation in the EMMS programme, bringing the total number of reporting posts to 22. Both will report in 2011 on their emissions evolution from 2009 to 2010. The 20 post operators which this year took part in the EMMS report manage over 100,000 facilities and 600,000 transport vehicles and represent over 80% of global mail volumes.

They 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 United States Postal Service.