On the occasion of the United Nations’ World Environment Day, Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s leading mail and logistics company, called its 480,000 employees for action to participate in activities for the environment and the climate. However, this form of engagement is not a one-time activity: the Group’s GoGreen program was launched in 2009 and encompasses the overall carbon efficiency improvement as well as a carbon neutral transport service. On 5th June, employees around the globe implement specific environmental and charity activities, which often include customers and partners alike.
“Every year, World Environment Day is a good opportunity to sharpen our awareness of the environment and the climate. It is particularly pleasant that many of those activities in the margin of World Environment Day are conducted jointly by our employees and customers. Very often, these activities turn into long-term projects, carrying the sustainable idea throughout the whole year,” says Christof Ehrhart, EVP Corporate Communication and Responsibility, Deutsche Post DHL. “Our GoGreen program is a very good example of how we continuously strive to protect the environment. Since its beginnings, we continuously improved our carbon efficiency and went more than halfway towards our company goal to improve our carbon efficiency by 30 percent by 2020 on the basis of 2007. Environmental protection is an integral part of our company strategy and is reflected in several guidelines, for example on paper, procurement as well as investments.”
Every year, the World Environment Day has a specific motto. This year, the motto is “Raise your voice, not the sea level” and focuses on climate change and the fate of Small Island Developing States. As a global logistics provider, Deutsche Post DHL also provides services on small islands and offers innovative solutions in the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean and the South China Sea for example. The delivery on Aruba island in the Caribbean is carried out by a Renault Twizy, an electrified vehicle. These vehicles are part of the worldwide fleet of alternative vehicles, currently encompassing 11,500 vehicles. In Germany, thousands of bikes are used for mail delivery all over the country.
For five years now, Deutsche Post DHL participates in World Environment Day. All employee activities are registered on a special microsite. Every year, thousands of employees participate in the events and often extend their engagement to the whole year. The activities comprise various projects, for example, tree planting, car sharing or simple measures in the office such as less use of paper, switching off of lights and electronic devices, no paper prints and ceramic mugs instead of plastic ones. Deutsche Post DHL developed an “office check” which is available to all employees and the activity “Bike to work” appeals to lots of employees. Since 2009, employees cycled over 4.4 million kilometers and managed to save 738 tons CO2.
With the GoGreen program, Deutsche Post DHL provides environmental service solutions for customers who can choose a “green” service option. In 2013, these mounted to 2.4 billion shipments. They can also ask for a CO2-reporting which displays all relevant emissions along the supply chain. The GoGreen program has been very successful. In 2013, the Group improved carbon efficiency by two additional index points towards the goal of a 30 percent efficiency improvement by 2020 on the basis of year 2007.