The transport sector is responsible for about a quarter of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, with 95% of energy for transport depending on fossil fuel (United Nations, 2021). Freight transport and supply chain operations correspond to a significant share of the impact of transportation on climate change and air quality. Last-mile deliveries are constantly increasing. In the European Union (EU), a 25% increase of consumer e-commerce deliveries was observed in 2020 due to the pandemic, a trend which is likely to persist (European Commission, 2021). On the other hand, the EU transport sector accounts for over 10,000,000 jobs (4.5% of total workforce) and represents 4.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) (European Commission, 2013). Promoting the sustainability of the EU transport sector in terms of socio-economic development in a way that respects and protects planetary boundaries requires the green transition of courier and transportation operations.
In this framework, the purpose of the “Couriers Go Green” project is to develop a strategy as well as a training and certification scheme that will offer competencies and motivation to target group organisations and their personnel in order to optimize their overall green environmental performance. The objective of this report as main deliverable of project Activity 2.1: “Pooling of knowledge” is to set the criteria and requirements of an online Europe-wide assessment, which will be developed in Activity 2.2: “Development of Strategic Planning Green Framework Document”. The analysis is based on the review of current policy and literature and the results from a questionnaire survey and a series of in-depth interviews, also conducted during Act. 2.1.
In the next chapter of the report an overview of current EU policy is presented regarding the targets and strategies for the green transition of freight transportation and logistics, with focus on last-mile delivery, courier and postal services. The third chapter refers to the state analysis of methods and tools that can be used to implement a green strategy for courier, postal, and transport companies. In the following chapter, the process and main results of the questionnaire survey and interviews are described. The final chapter concentrates the main findings from Act. 2.1, which will provide the necessary input to follow-up activities.