Deutsche Post has set out to offset the unavoidable CO2 emissions generated by its mail transportation operations – which has been calculated to address 300,000 tons of CO2 – through investing in certified climate protection projects, at no extra charge to customers.
The 300,000 tons of CO2 expectation has been calculated from the company’s 2020 statistics, in which it transported 6.5 billion letters. Since 2007, Deutsche Post DHL has offered its GoGreen service to business customers as a way to offset the CO2 emissions generated by shipping operations. The company’s existing climate-friendly GoGreen service has therefore handled a shipping volume of around 50,000 items per year. For this reason, customers still have the option of ordering GoGreen as an additional service for domestic advertising mail and press products. Business customers can also use GoGreen as a sign of their own commitment to climate protection – by printing the logo on their envelopes, for example.
In 2022, the group’s Post & Parcel Germany division plans to further expand its GoGreen product portfolio with products that will enable customers to play an active role in the avoidance of CO2 emissions in Germany. These offsets are to be carried out through internationally recognized and certified climate protection projects.
Automatically offsetting CO2 emissions for all lettermail items is part of the company’s aim to achieve zero-emission logistics by 2050. Currently, Deutsche Post DHL delivers mail and parcels carbon-free in around 50% of its delivery districts. To support this goal, the Group’s Post & Parcel Germany division will expand its fleet of electric vehicles, invest in the construction of carbon-neutral operations facilities and upgrade its existing buildings. Similarly, the company’s division plans to increase the share of parcels shipped via greener transportation modes, such as rail and biogas-powered trucks.
Ole Nordhoff, chief marketing officer at Deutsche Post, said, “Climate protection is a core focus issue for Deutsche Post. Already today we have, by far, the largest fleet of electric delivery vans, electric-powered bicycles and cargo bikes providing the industry’s most climate-friendly mail and parcel delivery service. And for years, our parcel customers have responded very positively to the climate-friendly shipping we have provided for all private-customer parcels. Now we are introducing this to our mail operations as well and making our entire mail transportation greener. This also helps our business customers make greener mail correspondence with end customers.”