Together with non-profit organisation Smart Freight Centre, Deutsche Post DHL Group is calling for a new pathway to decarbonising logistics known as ‘carbon insetting’.

Carbon insetting is a system where logistics itself reduces its carbon emissions through greater routing efficiencies, using alternative/sustainable fuels as well as fleet renewal and engine retrofits that can reduce the emissions between first and last mile phases of the delivery process.

Deutsche Post DHL and the Smart Freight Centre have jointly published a white paper called “Carbon Insets for the Logistics Sector” discussing the concept.

“To ensure that the logistics industry can continue to contribute successfully to the fight against climate change, we need a uniform and sector-specific standard for compensating for, and reducing, carbon emissions,” says Tim Scharwath, Member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Post DHL Group, CEO DHL Global Forwarding, Freight.

“In the long-term, greater decarbonisation of transport is key to driving positive change. Future-proofed logistics companies should think now about developing a stringent insetting strategy.”

“There is an opportunity to channel carbon offset funds related to transportation emissions to projects within the logistics sector – a practice known as carbon insetting,” says Suzanne Greene, Smart Freight Centre’s Expert Advisor and author of the white paper. “This paper lays the foundation for a system to accelerate freight decarbonisation.”