Deutsche Post DHL Group unveils Green Carrier Certification as part of its sustainability roadmap

The group aims to reduce GHGs to below 29 million tonnes by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Ground transport accounts for 21% of the group’s total CO₂e emissions. Accordingly, in addition to electrification of the last mile and investment in alternative drives and fuels in its own fleet, another important lever is the scope of sustainable transport services provided by its service partners.

“Decarbonising trade lanes and supply chains is a joint effort and has to be built on transparency and collaboration,” commented Andreas Mündel, Senior Vice President Strategy & Operation Programs at Deutsche Post DHL Group.

Visibility on transport carriers’ emissions is one of the biggest challenges and key in delivering science-based targets. To provide this, the DHL divisions Express, Freight and Supply Chain jointly developed a standardised program to access the green performance and award the various partners providing ground transport services to the divisions.

Since the beginning of 2021, the group’s road freight provider, DHL Freight, alone has already surveyed more than 600 selected service partners from Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands on their sustainability performance.

DHL Supply Chain, the contract logistics provider, is currently rolling out the initiative via the online platform in selected countries and regions. The full worldwide rollout will follow in 2022. This will be an important contributor to successfully reduce CO₂e emissions – next to DHL Supply Chain’s commitment to provide CO₂ free warehousing and decarbonise own fleet across the globe.

The international express service provider DHL Express has included the certification as part of the tendering process for its ground-based transport and has received consistently positive feedback from carriers.

The DHL divisions will also survey subcontractors in other countries and award them in the coming months. DHL Global Forwarding successfully implemented a Green Carrier Certification program for its air and ocean freight transport services already ten years ago, which flows seamlessly into the group’s program.