Why is a shift toward sustainable and resource-efficient logistics necessary?

We live in an interconnected world. Our model of prosperity depends on the exchange of goods—as it always has. And that will remain the case. Global transportation accounts for 17 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris Agreement climate goals can only be achieved if we make the transportation and logistics sector climate-neutral. As a globally operating company with customers in every country around the world, we see this as our responsibility. Climate protection is a collective effort. Policy-making, corporate investment, and social initiatives must go hand in hand to achieve the necessary changes at all levels.

What is Deutsche Post DHL Group doing to transition to green logistics?

We are focusing on all sectors in which we operate: air transport (which, at 60 percent, is the largest source of emissions within our company), road transport, and our buildings. For all sectors, we have defined concrete measures and targets in accordance with the guidelines of the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), which we aim to achieve as early as 2030. In total, we will invest seven billion euros by 2030 to increase the share of sustainable fuels in our aircraft and vehicles, raise the share of electric vehicles in our global delivery fleet to 60 percent, make all new buildings climate-neutral, and offer customers a growing portfolio of green products. Our mission is to reduce all emissions to net zero by 2050.

What alternative transportation options is Deutsche Post DHL Group already using?

No other logistics service provider invests as much in electric mobility, climate-neutral delivery, and innovative solutions as we do. We currently have 20,000 electric vans and 12,400 e-trikes in operation in Germany. By 2025, the electric fleet will grow to 38,000 electric commercial vehicles. By 2030, 60 percent of the fleet worldwide is to be electrified.

In addition, we will significantly increase parcel transport by rail. We are already utilizing all the capacity that the railways can provide us. Millions of parcels are transported by rail each year—currently about 6 percent of the total parcel volume—and we aim to increase this to 20 percent in the long term. On select routes, our customers can use an app to choose whether their package should be transported by road or—slightly slower—by rail—at no extra charge.

What does the future hold? What other climate-friendly solutions are in the works?

Of course, we’re always on the lookout for further innovative and sustainable logistics concepts. Decarbonizing air travel is a crucial lever for achieving emission-free logistics. Our Express Division was the first company in the world to order twelve “Alice” electric aircrafts. Clearly a pilot project in the truest sense of the word, but without innovative pioneers willing to try something new, it simply won’t work. We’ve also already ordered 800 million liters of sustainable kerosene—which is currently still very scarce and expensive—for our aircraft. For us, this is a crucial step toward decarbonizing air travel. We need the market to ramp up quickly here to replace fossil fuels.

Is the government currently setting the right course to support the goal of climate-neutral logistics?

In many respects, we’re on the right track in Germany. With 15 million electric vehicles on German roads and one million charging points by 2030, the federal government has set ambitious goals that we expressly support. Now the charging infrastructure must be expanded rapidly, particularly fast megawatt charging stations for heavy trucks. However, these charging stations require a connection to the medium-voltage grid. Grid expansion is also crucial for this sector. And we need a clear commitment to promoting production capacity for synthetic aviation fuels—in Germany and worldwide.

In general, it is important for the federal government to set clear climate policy priorities and goals and establish reliable framework conditions to incentivize the necessary investments. In achieving these goals, however, we must not get lost in ideological debates but must be willing to compromise.

What kind of compromises do you mean?

I’m thinking, for example, of the significant role that the use of sustainable biofuels and natural gas trucks plays in decarbonizing the transportation sector. In recent years, many companies have invested in new LNG trucks for long-haul transport. While this technology is not as climate-friendly as a fully electric system, it emits significantly less CO2 than conventional fossil-fuel-powered internal combustion engines. These investments were subsidized by the government in Germany, for example as part of the fleet renewal program. Such support was the right approach and remains necessary, because without transitional technologies such as bio-LNG for long-haul transport and bio-CNG for short- and medium-haul transport, we will not be able to achieve the sectoral targets for transportation in this decade. Ultimately, they represent a necessary compromise and an intermediate step toward the decarbonization of road transportation.

What we need is decisive political action and a willingness to embrace what is technologically and economically feasible, without losing sight of the goal of climate neutrality.