The trend of Decarbonization is the movement towards reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) in the atmosphere. This involves burning less and burning clean to reach carbon neutrality, as well as actively removing existing CO2e in the environment to become carbon negative.
International concern about climate change and its effects on the planet has put environmental sustainability, and particularly decarbonization, into the spotlight for businesses, governments, and consumers. This is particularly true for logistics – supply chains generate around 60% of all carbon emissions globally, and about 90% of a product’s emissions derive from its supply chains. As more B2B and B2C customers demand sustainable products and services, and as transparency legislation comes into force, like the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) in 2023, logistics organizations must act to properly account for emissions and decarbonize their supply chains to stay competitive and relevant in an environmentally conscious world.
The Decarbonization trend has high impact as practically all segments of the supply chain will be altered to eliminate CO2e emissions from operations. However, while pressure to decarbonize has reached the top of the agenda for B2B and B2C customers and many more companies have set zero emissions targets, tangible action has started but will need to further increase for the goal of decarbonized supply chains to be achieved. Here at DHL, we see this trend accelerating once regulations require disclosure of the carbon footprint of products and services. This will create another point of comparison and competition between organizations.