Green Postal Day: How PostEurop supports the EU Green Deal
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In the spirit of the 2020 EU Mobility Week themed 'Zero-emission mobility for all' aimed to achieve ambitious targets of a carbon-neutral continent by 2050, PostEurop joins forces with IPC to promote the essential role of postal operators in the fight against climate change on Green Postal Day this 18 September 2020. This is a unique occasion to underline the concrete actions taken by its members to protect the environment and support the EU Green deal.
Over time, the postal sector has adapted to the needs of the citizens including the younger generation, with the aim to play a strong role in the future society and economy. At a time when we buy more and more online, postal operators have begun integrating sustainability into their strategies, activities and looked for ways to reduce the sector's overall environmental impact.
For more than a decade, postal operators have adopted numerous green initiatives from having one of the largest fleets of alternative vehicles in Europe, using renewable energies to developing circular economy services, whilst raising the environmental awareness among their employees. Today, the postal sector leads the way as a sector to reduce carbon emission and has developed strong expertise in green innovative solutions. The Covid 19 crisis has also confirmed postal operators' social role of keeping citizens connected. During these difficult times, they have reached out to the most vulnerable in society, going beyond their normal duties to ensure that the elderly, disabled citizens and those living in a remote area, stay safe and included.
Greener deliveries
The journey to delivering postal products with reduced or zero emission is a long and challenging one. Many postal operators are investing heavily in lower emission and new electric vehicles, leading the sector to manage the largest alternative fleet in Europe. In the report published today, electric vehicles account for a 15% share of posts’ fleets[1], an increase of 10% over the last three years. Today, postal operators such as An Post and Österreichische Post lead the way and made it possible to provide citizens with "zero emission deliveries" in Dublin (Ireland) and Graz (Austria) respectively.
Moreover, other results[2] from the report demonstrate the determination of postal operators to pursue efforts to further reduce their footprint and contribute to sustainable development:
- Posts participating in SMMS reduced their absolute carbon emissions by 31% since 2008
- Renewable electricity in buildings accounts for 31% of total electricity used
- 47% of waste is separated for re-use or recycling
Postal operators will continue to invest in environmental solutions and commit to our environmental goals today as well as for future generations.
Postal Operators' role in the EU Green Deal
Postal operators understand the importance of the EU Green Deal and are ready to play a prominent role in the Green recovery, a key element of the European Union growth strategy. PostEurop has been closely following the EU initiatives launched to make the European economy more sustainable and climate neutral. The actions implemented in this framework are related to clean, affordable and secure energy, circular economy, building renovation and sustainable mobility are of particular importance to postal operators.
"Postal operators can bring valuable contribution to the EU Green deal through sharing the wealth of knowledge and postal sustainability solutions we have gathered over the years. We are fully committed to improving the lives of our citizens" states Jean-Paul Forceville, Chairman of PostEurop.
Our commitment
PostEurop therefore fully supports EU objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and to become climate-neutral by 2050. Postal operators will directly contribute to these objectives as they aim to reduce CO2 emissions reduction by 20% for mail and parcels by 2025. More globally, the European postal industry is fully committed to delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as outlined in its Manifesto which is setting out its priorities and goals for Delivering a Sustainable European Post in the framework of the new regulatory term (2019-2024). It has in particular identified the SDG n°8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 as being the most relevant ones to drive its actions. For all these reasons, PostEurop and its members support the Green postal day and the actions of all the postal industry to fight against climate change.
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About the PostEurop CSR Brochure of good practices
Environmental postal practices are published and promoted every year by PostEurop in its “CSR Brochure of good practices” which is a compilation of the best CSR initiatives developed. In 2020 the 6th edition of this unique collection of practices will be published on 8 October during the PostEurop annual Plenary Assembly. This brochure contains up to 68 CSR practices shared by 27 postal operators all over Europe.
About PostEurop
PostEurop represents 52 postal operators in 49 countries and territories around Europe and handles 60 billion items each year. The industry employs 2 million people, manages 258 million delivery points and accounts for 1% of the GDP.
See also
PostEurop Corporate Social Responsibility
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For more information, please contact:
Margaux Meidinger
Chair of the PostEurop CSR Activities Circle
E: margaux.meidinger@laposte.fr
Cynthia Wee-Neumann
Communications Manager
T: +32 2 773 11 92
E: cynthia.wee@posteurop.org
[1] Aggregated result for all the posts participating in the IPC SMMS programme. The Sustainability Monitoring and Management System (SMMS) was launched in 2019. The new programme builds on the successful competition of all targets of the postal Environmental Measurement and Monitoring System (EMMS), launched in 2008. The scope of the new programme has been aligned with the UN SDGs.
[2] Background information about these results can be found at www.ipc.be