Global bank picks DHL to pioneer carbon neutral courier service

• DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral Service becomes positive asset for international financial service sector

DHL’s pioneering carbon offset solution DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service is a positive new asset for environmentally-savvy financial institutions.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, has contracts with several major banks for DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral services regionally and recently secured one global account.  The fully-audited service enables customers to offset carbon emissions generated by international courier services by reinvesting in certified carbon management programs.

Standard Chartered Bank is the first bank to adopt DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service globally, signing a worldwide contract to make 95 per cent of the bank’s international courier services carbon neutral.

DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service will be implemented in stages by Standard Chartered, with services up and running in Australia, Bangladesh ,China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan,  South Korea, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam.

Approximately 2,000 tons of carbon emissions are expected to be offset each year, when DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service is implemented in the majority of the bank’s global network.

This partnership assumes unique significance as Standard Chartered Bank is the first customer for DHL Express Sri Lanka that has adopted its GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service and leads the way for corporate organisations towards engaging sustainable solutions encouraging others to be more responsible towards the environment.

Malcolm Monteiro, Senior Vice-President & Area Director - South Asia, DHL Express said: “Globally, one of the focus areas for DHL is climate protection in order to minimise the impact of our business on the environment. In line with that, in South Asia, our efforts include providing our customers with a platform to increase carbon efficiency in their organisations’ supply chain.  

The logistics sector can play a pivotal role in the development of a sustainable economy and therefore we really appreciate that a global bank such as Standard Chartered is taking a step beyond their shipment logistics to ensure an overall improvement in carbon efficiency.”

DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service is designed to offer companies a more environmentally-responsible shipping option by calculating carbon emissions generated by transporting each shipment point to point.

Emissions are offset by reinvesting in certified carbon management programs such as a biomass and a hydro power plant in India and Brazil and a wind farm in China.

Customers can choose to send all or a selection of their international shipments using the DHL GOGREEN Carbon Neutral service.

For a surcharge, DHL will offset the carbon emissions for international air express shipments.

Ensuring accountability and transparency, the programme is annually verified by an independent certifying body – the Swiss-based Société Générale de Surveillance.

Customers receive certification from DHL stating the total amount of CO2 offset on their behalf during the year.

DHL’s own global sustainability program aims to improve carbon efficiency by 30 percent by 2020 [benchmarked to 2007 levels].   

In 2010, DHL Express Asia Pacific achieved a 14.1 per cent improvement in CO2 efficiency year-on-year in its real estate and ground transport operations, despite a 10 per cent increase in total CO2 emissions.