On the road to net-zero logistics

Decarbonising logistics is as critical to our net-zero ambitions as it is difficult to achieve, but there are signs of innovation emerging to address the problem areas of HGVs, air freight and shipping
aeriel view container shipping by container ship by green sea .

A combination of extreme weather and the upcoming COP26 conference is making net-zero headline news. Carbon footprints are under scrutiny and the problem is emissions. For supply chains, that means logistics.

Contributing more to the problem than any other sector, transport produced 27% of total UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019, according to data from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Of this, HGVs (18%) and vans (17%) together were responsible for more than a third (35%). Factor in kerosene-rich air freight, plus emissions in the wake of cargo shipping, and logistics is firmly in the frame for climate crimes.

As a result, the UK regulatory net is tightening. With a ban on sales of new diesel lorries due by 2040, the sustainability squeeze is on and logistics must decarbonise, fast.