UPU World Leaders Forum 2021 aims to further accelerate postal sustainability

 

UPU World Leaders Forum 2021 aims to further accelerate postal sustainability

 

Next week, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) will be kicking off this year’s World Leaders Forum, in conjunction with Parcel+Post Expo 2021 in Vienna, Austria.

The one-day forum will be entirely virtual and will embrace one key theme – ‘One ocean – many currents’. The event has been organized with the approaching UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in mind. COP26 will be held from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow, Scotland.

The UPU will use the World Leaders Forum to raise awareness of sustainability and climate change. The afternoon session, which will be held between 2:00-3:15pm (CEST), for example, is entitled ‘Sustainability – the big issue of our time’ and will include presentations from leading experts in the industry about the latest sustainability initiatives. Speakers include Annemarie Gardshol, President and Group CEO of PostNord; David McRedmond, CEO of An Post; and Siva Somasundram, Director of Policy, Regulation & Markets, UPU.

An Post has recently launched its second Sustainability Report, which highlighted the essential role the operator is playing in the national drive for carbon reduction. According to the report, An Post has reduced carbon emissions by 23% since 2009 and is on track for a 50% reduction by 2025, and carbon zero by 2030.

An Post has set itself some impressive targets to achieve by 2030 including supporting 30,000 homeowners to retrofit their homes to make them more sustainable; ensuring there are 2,000 electric vehicles in An Post’s fleet by 2022; and investing €100m of capital expenditure on sustainability by 2025.

Meanwhile, PostNord, which is one of the leading posts for sustainability, reported in March that it had achieved its climate goal for 2020 and reduced its carbon footprint by 40% compared to 2009 levels. The operator has now set itself an ambitious new goal to achieve fossil-free operations by 2030.

To help it achieve this, PostNord will undertake methodical reviews of customer transport arrangements to identify more climate-smart solutions; invest in fossil-free transport in various Finnish and Swedish cities; and invest in electric and other environmentally friendly vehicles in Norway.

Aside from the forum, the UPU is also continuing to place climate action at the heart of its work. At the 27th Congress in Abidjan, for example, a new resolution was adopted which focuses on greater action and cooperation in the fight against climate change. The resolution commits the UPU to investigate possible emission reduction targets and carbon-neutral cross border services in the postal sector. It will also encourage knowledge sharing on emission reduction strategies, climate finance and climate adaptation.

The UPU already supports carbon reporting across the postal sector through its Online Solution for Carbon Analysis and Reporting (OSCAR). 

To find out more about the World Leaders Forum, click here.

*The World Leaders Forum is a virtual event, held on Zoom and live streamed on UPU TV. It is free to attend. Register here