DHL updates Sustainability Roadmap with an $8 billion investment

With a sharp eye on the future, Deutsche Post DHL Group announced this week it has rolled out an $8 billion (USD) roadmap focused on what it is calling the planned decarbonization of the company, through 2030, focusing on climate-neutral logistics.

DHL said that this investment will be allocated towards both operation expenses and capital expenses on various fronts, including

• alternative aviation fuels;
• the expansion of the zero-emission e-vehicle fleet; and
• climate-neutral buildings

What’s more, DHL added that it remains on track for its zero-emissions target by 2050, which it rolled out in 2017, coupled with its Science-based Target initiative of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, corresponding with the Paris Climate Agreement.

DHL has long been on the front lines, in the logistics sector, as a company with a clear focus on sustainability and green logistics and freight efforts. The company explained today that it has had “ambitious sustainability targets” going back to 2008, and in 2017 it became the first logistics company to announce it had a set target focused on reducing its GHG to net zero by 2050.

As some examples of how this investment will be put into action, DHL explained that it is moving ahead on its vehicle fleet electrification efforts, adding that having 60% of its all global delivery vehicles are expected to be electrically powered by 2030, well ahead of a 2020 estimate of 18%. It also said it is focused on having at least 30% of its aviation and line haul fuel requirements to be covered by sustainable fuels. And, on the property front, DHL is spending money on environmental-friendly properties, including office space, mail and parcel centers, and logistics warehouses to be constructed climate-neutral.

“This starts with clean operations, which is about climate protection,” said Deutsche Post DHL Group CEO Frank Appel on a media webcast. “We also want to be a great place to work for and, needless to say, be a highly trusted company as well, in our industry. All of that will be based on the positive effects we are achieving, and that is why we have committed ourselves today to achieve our science-based target initiative in line with the Paris Agreement. By 2030, we want to cut our carbon emissions significantly. We will step up our investments over time…and starting next year we are going to anchor our ESG targets and corporate board incentivization.

Appel stressed the importance of these efforts going back to DHL being such a large and strong player in the logistics sector, and the entire sector accounting for 0.04% of C02 emissions in logistics, with freight transportation accounting for 16.2% of all GHG emissions.

ESG targets: The company also announced that, as part of its ongoing focus on Environment and Social Guidance, or ESG, it is taking steps to further promote inclusion and equal opportunities within DHL.

DHL said, as examples of this, that its proportion of female executives in management is expected to rise from 23.2% today, to a minimum of 30% by 2025 and to also set a goal of maintaining its “employee engagement” approval rating, in its annual global employee survey, at 80, which it said is a consistently high levels. The company also said that it will invest 1% of net profits annually on social impact programs and initiatives.