News / Logistics providers feeling the heat from customers wanting to go greener

© Elnur

Logistics operators are coming under considerable pressure from clients to show evidence of decarbonisation, according to a survey by the British International Freight Association (BIFA).

While legislation has traditionally been seen as the primary driver, the survey indicates a shift in tone in discussions surrounding logistics decarbonisation, with some 28% of participants now citing client pressure as the leading motivator.

In partnership with decarbonisation software platform Pledge, the survey aimed to evaluate the impact of carbon emissions awareness on forwarders and logistics service providers. Results show 69% of respondents consider calculating emissions is part of their daily activities and 15.5% integrating it into their business operations.

A further 31% highlighted green initiatives within their organisations, entailing between £1,000 and £9,000 annually for CO2 emissions calculation. Some 22% had assigned budgets of below £1,000 for this, while some 14% allocated budgets in excess of £20,000.

“The conclusion is that there has been growing awareness of environmental issues among the BIFA membership and, to some extent, a growing awareness of the need to measure carbon emissions and provide that information to clients,” said BIFA director general Steve Parker.

“It will be particularly challenging for SMEs to determine how they will use this data, and what they can actually do to reduce their carbon emissions. The general consensus is that significant changes will be required. Although what these will be are not clear at the moment,” he added.

In one example of customers taking matters into their own hands, some companies, such as Ikea and BMW, have managed to reduce shipping lines’ carbon emissions via ‘insetting’ agreements with biofuel company GoodShipping, designed to offset a portion of vessel CO2 emissions equivalent to the proportion of their cargo a ship carries.