Transport's environmental performance lags behind other sectors
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
The transport industry is lagging behind other sectors in offsetting greenhouse gases and could have a long-term impact on climate change unless more steps are taken, according to a new report, writes Damian Brett.
The report, produced by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which collates climate change information distributed by businesses, found that only 36% of transport companies had set carbon and energy reduction targets, compared to 51% of the ‘Global 500 Index’ of companies across all sectors.
The report also revealed that, globally, the transport industry now accounts for 13% of global emissions and is one of the fastest energy-demand sectors, responsible for 60% of oil consumption in high-income countries (OECD countries).
CDP said it expected the industry to experience significant growth, increasing its dependence on oil and risk of an escalation in greenhouse gasses.
Zoe Tcholak-Antitch, VP and Head of Investor, CDP, said: “The overwhelming conclusion, however, is that the sector as a whole needs to transform and realise the opportunity to make a profound impact on the environment and the business benefits to reducing emissions.
“Those companies which are already investing in that transformation will be better positioned for a carbon constrained world.”
The report also found:
• Only 9% of transport firms report information on current investments in emissions reduction and alternate low-carbon options and only 4% on future investments.
• Road transport accounts for 80% of the sector’s total CO2 contribution, followed by air (13%) and sea transportation (7%)
• 53% of transport companies surveyed responded to CDP’s request indicating a lower level of engagement compared to the ‘Global 500’ with an 82% response rate.
But CDP said there was some light at the end of the tunnel as US$31.9 billion had been committed or invested into low carbon initiatives and innovations by the industry.
A minority of companies are reporting significant investments including Air France-KLM, Easyjet, Canadian National Railways, Toyota, and UPS.
Bob Stoffel, UPS Senior VP, Sustainability Programmes, said: “We use multiple approaches to reduce our carbon output, including the use of technology to cut the miles we fly and drive, leveraging telematics and routing technologies to improve the efficiencies of our drivers, investing in alternative fuel technologies for our fleet and minimizing redundancies in our delivery network.”
“Through the use of routing technology alone, we avoided driving more than 32.8 million km, with an associated emissions avoidance of 20,000 metric tonnes in 2009.”
